Fear Island
by TheTradgedistWhoBecameALover
Summary: this is a long book for those of you who ahve nothing better to do. it's about a group of kids who're stranded on a desert island and must find the courage from within themselves to survive!
1. On the Airplane

May 26th, 2006

The last thing I remember was being in my seat on the airplane. We were on our way to Belgium to visit my brother when I looked out my window and saw a dark storm cell.

The pilot came onto the speakers, "Ladies and gentleman we will be experiencing some turbulence so please for your own safety buckle down." There was some mild shaking happening but nothing big. About five minutes later we slowly crept out of the storm system. The winds seemed to be settling down by the time we got out of the clouds. No one else expected the storm to come back our way.

The pilot got word from the control tower that the storm had turned around and was now heading back. Gently the pilot tried picking up speed so we'd get away from it but it only seemed to get worse. As the sky darkened again around my window I held onto the seat for dear life. My cell phone was still in my pocket. My sister who was sitting next to me still had our ear phones on and wasn't paying attention to the storm. I started breathing heavily knowing that something was going to go wrong. A second later the side of the plane was blown open, wind was blowing over but it didn't actually take the people away. Instead it was searching for a selected group of people to steal. I closed my eyes as I felt it going around the plane. It's as if it could smell your worst fear and suck it up completely. When it got to the row behind me I was about to go into shock when instead it picked me up so quickly no one had time to react to it. You could hear screaming all over the plane.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had been taken off the plane. Seven other people along with me were ripped right out of their seats and thrown either onto an island that was somewhere below us or close to it. Four girls and four boys made up the population. When the storm was done collecting it's victims it put the top back onto the plane hammering it down.


	2. First Night on the Island

May 28th, 2006

Like I told myself, I did end up somewhere else on the island. My body was still un-harmed but I felt like someone was watching me from above.

Today was my day to get things done and not to sit around. My first order of business was to investigate around the island to see if anyone else was here. There were no foot prints in the sand for the first twenty minutes or so. Occasionally I saw some marks in the sand that looked to small to be human foot prints. Some crossed each other; others just went into the forest. I figured it was an alligator or bird.

I couldn't tell if I had made my way past an area because they all seemed to look exactly alike. The palm trees, the water, the sand, it all looked like a mirror to me. I tried to calm myself down by going for an early afternoon swim. Since I didn't have a towel I'd have to let the wind and sun dry me off. The water was a lot warmer then the sun so when I got out it felt a bit nippy at first. The one problem with mixing water and sand is that they stick together. So you could bet I pretty much looked like Sandy the sand man. Other then the clichés, I looked like I came out of a washing machine, wet and smelling like ocean.

I quit looking for others and started searching for wood to build up my hut. My best bet would be anything close to the water figuring from broken ships and boats. Little by little I went around picking up seaweed covered wood and had to pick off the seaweed otherwise my house would smell like the bottom of the ocean. I wanted my hut to look authentic in having real pirate material.

As I turned the corner there was a black sheet laying on the ground. I knew I could use this as a flag to let anyone know that life existed on the island. I wanted a kick ass name for the island but nothing came to mind right away. I would figure it out later. I didn't know whether I should take it all back at once or little by little.

My mind said "do it all right now so tomorrow you won't have much to do". I knew that the actual building work would take a long ass time. After nearly three hours of walking around I recognized my site by the fire that was still going. In the meantime I looked around for some rope and hung out my flag against a palm tree that was just above where my hut would be. I didn't need it to be big on the inside but since I knew someone else would show up soon I might as well not risk it.

My first priority was getting a stair case of some sort going. I took a wood shop class my sophomore year of high school but I never excelled at it. I took two pieces of wood and looked at each other like somehow they were going to connect like two puzzle pieces. Instead they just sat there in my hands waiting for me to combine them like Siamese twins. Though one piece was shorter then the other I had to comprehend with that. The shorter piece would go on top. I figured I would have three pieces of wood making up the stairs then have a little deck area to sit out on that would go around the whole hut.

An hour later I was wrapping vines around the boards to hold them together and in place. Once I found that the vine worked I went into the woods to collect some that was growing off the trees. As I learned the hard way there were no such thing as log vines, which I took credit from in a Saturday morning cartoon show when I was about five years old. Since the forest was like a jungle I couldn't tell what the weather was like outside. The birds and animals inside made it difficult to hear anything that may have been occurring. By the time I was done collecting the vines and headed out the rain had started up. So immediately I dumped the vines down by the pieces of wood and headed back into the forest where it seemed like an invisible force field was around it keeping it dry from the hard falling rain.

I waited in the forest so long that I almost fell asleep standing up. If it hadn't been for a bird that squawked nearby I would've collapsed and most likely hurt myself. I poked my head out of the woods to see if the rain had ended. Instead what I got was the sun beating down on my head. The rain must've warmed the temperature up causing a drought. My latest conclusion was that someone had been controlling the weather from a far and knew that I was going to start building a house! So intentionally they "Accidentally" hit the rain switch causing a delay in my construction. (If you think that these conclusions are wrong then I suggest you tell me the real reason!) I picked up a piece of wood and looked at across the blue sky at what awaited to be my next big challenge.


	3. Fish and Serve

May 27th, 2006

Silence; Nothing made a sound. I felt my body to see if I was alright, miraculously everything was the same when I was on the plane. I looked around to see if anyone might be with me. I yelled out a cry for help, silence.

The wind seemed to have carried me down and set me on the island. My first conclusion was that it was doing this so that it wouldn't screw up the plans; otherwise it'd have to find someone to replace me. I shook my head thinking it was a bad dream when instead a crab came along and was dancing around my foot then it finally pinched my toe.

"Damn it you stupid thing die!" I grabbed a stick and stuck it through the hard shell.

The crab waddled around with a trickle of blood running off its shell; slowly it fell down and stopped moving.

This time my right big toe really got the better of me. I had an operation done on it a year ago. I remember seeing the surgeon take my toenail off, all I saw was blood on the toe.

The crab had pinched off a wad of flesh off the toe making it just like when I had the surgery done. I hopped around like I was stepping on hot coals and looking for something to wrap it up in. I remembered my bag and backpack. Looking around I saw them over leaning against the tree. My next conclusion was the wind had left me here but also gave me stuff to live off of for a short period of time.

I knew sooner or later I'd have to build shelter to keep out of the sun. The first thing I did was look around the island; fortunately it wasn't the size of America. I took out my cell phone to see if it still had power. The time read 7:22pm. I figured tonight would be the only night that I hadn't a place to sleep.

Since I've always wanted to spear fish and "rough" it I would go out and find a spear like stick as a weapon in case of danger. Knowing that I was on unknown territory anything was possible to happen. Having some experience in baseball I tried to make the spear like a baseball bat, wooden and non-breakable. I decided to try it out before the sun went down. Since all I had were shorts I didn't have to worry about rolling my pant legs up. I slipped my sandals off right before the water and headed in. My first thought was that I was somewhere near Florida. The water was clear and warm, in fact just right. I bent down on both knees looking around. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a seagull on a nearby rock.

I know what you're thinking, seagulls wouldn't taste very good. Well if I was going to be here a while then I'd be willing to try anything once. This kind of work felt like looking for frogs back home in the woods. You had to be very careful and not scare them away otherwise you'd get upset and start cussing.

As I crept towards the stupid creature I could hear myself saying, "Come here you piece of shit, I'm not going to touch you if you don't fly away." I stopped in my tracks as it stared back at me. I tried to remain motionless but something in the water hit me and I started jumping up and down causing the bird to fly away. I walked back onto shore and started stomping on the ground for no reason.

The sun set on my first evening on the island and I still had no food yet. Unfortunately I hadn't planned on landing here so obviously my backpack didn't have any food in it.

By now the sun was just about half way down and I was running out of time. I made a split second decision and ran back into the water to find some fish; one swam up beside my right foot. I had to be careful not to spear myself. The fish suddenly looked up at me like he knew it was coming.

"Well if you plan on eating me then you might as well get it over with."

I jumped up, "What did you say?"

He looked back at me, "You're not the first one to try and kill me. If you must have something to eat you should've said something earlier."

I tried searching for something to say but couldn't speak.

"If you give me a minute I'll get something to tide you over until morning."

I waited patiently by the side of the water, soon the little fish came up to me and spit out something on the ground.

"Eat it, it's good for you." My stomach was telling me to not go near it but my mind was yelling out at me for still standing around. I forcefully picked up the piece of krill and went back on shore looking back at the tiny fish.

"Thank you my friend, if I need more I'll let you know!" He gulped some water and headed back out.

Now, I wasn't into the boy scouts or anything like that so I had no clue had to get a fire going. I tried doing the "rubbing the two sticks together" gag but that would've taken hours along just to get warm. By my bag I spotted a pack of matches. It's like whoever sent me here knew what I would need to survive, but what exactly was I facing?

I put that question out of my head for the time being and started up a fire putting the krill on a stick then roasted it to perfection! I rubbed my stomach like I had eaten a buffet, "Wow, this sure was…appetizing." Suddenly my stomach gurgled.

"Oh shit, got to find a toilet!"

Then I realized there were none on the island so I had to resort to desperate measures by going in the woods.

As I lowered my body against a tree as a lizard came wandering by me looking at me in curiosity.

"Shoo go away you big dog!"

He stuck his tongue out at me and rubbed up against my leg, his spiky body making cuts along the way.

"Damn it you lizard, I'm having it hard enough by shitting on the tree. Do not piss me off!"

As I got done I threw the leaf away and pretended to scare the lizard who by then rolled its eyes and headed back into the forest. By now I was fed up of wildlife and got back to the shore and lied down on the ground using my backpack as a pillow and slowly closing my eyes hoping I would wake up somewhere else the next day.


	4. Not quite Reality TV

May 29th, 2006

You may be wondering exactly what my next big challenge is going to be. It definitely won't be looking for food, building my hut won't take too much longer with the help of the vines, and it certainly isn't washing my clothes. Instead I have to deal with the fact that I'm alone. (Hey I know I'm a tough guy, but I still have emotions too!) I didn't expect anyone else on the island for at least another week, given that that's typical on a real life reality show.

This was no reality show, and things that would get it cancelled could happen at any time in mine. In my mind I could see myself getting eaten alive by some alligator or cursing up a storm? That's the kind of things I'm talking about that would get it cancelled. If this had been aired on TV it would've been terminated by the FCC weeks ago! Not only was there no cameras around, there was certainly no director. (Steven Spielberg I praise you and all, but it wouldn't have worked out like you hoped it would) Back to the story, my weakness of not having another person around was slowly making its presence known. No I wasn't going to resort to inanimate objects; I figured I could build another person from wood…nah it's not worth it. Besides I wouldn't want someone to think I had already given up hope of ever getting off this island.


	5. Working on the Hut

May 30th, 2006

The thought of never getting off this island kept rearing its ugly face in my head, even in my sleep. The night before I had a dream of seeing a rescue ship and instead of stopping, they kept going not even glancing over at my island, yes MY Island. Since no one else is here that I know of, it is officially mine. I had tried to think of a name that would suit such a situation.

Instead what I got was "Brian's Diner" for having a lot of animals that were eating my food and not even leaving a tip behind…well let's say that tip wasn't edible.

Knowing that yesterday I skipped out on all three meals my stomach was pretty much an empty desert right now. The only thing keeping it from spilling out was the fact that I had to use the restroom on a consistent rate. My medication seemed to be holding up well for having to use salt water each time. At this rate it would hold up for another two weeks or so if I was lucky. My condition hadn't gone haywire yet. This would be my real test to see how long I could make it without the medication. I knew it was too good to sound true, but if I could last the whole time without it then I would be set for life!

As I continued working on the hut I realized how much knowledge I was gaining by this. So in times to come I'll be ready to protect myself however is necessary. My spear was still leaning against the side of the palm tree and was in good shape. I immediately went over and put it by the pieces of wood. Later I would make another one in case "Excalibur" decided to take a day off. I started thinking about what my brother had done a year earlier when we decided to rake out the leaves in our lake. The picture of my brother running up to we like and raising the rake over his head like the creatures in star wars episode three rang out in my head. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. The thought of not having my brother around for even longer periods of time made me cry as well. It wasn't a sobbing type of crying, but it was a gentle flow of tears. I looked down at the wood and wiped away the tears knowing I had to get going and stop procrastinating.

With the stairs being done I know how to focus on the deck. Somehow I was going to have to get four pieces down and into the ground so it would hold up the actual hut. My best bet was finding a spot where the ground was wet yet smooth. If I knew how to make cement then the project would've been twice as easy to do. Unfortunately it'll require more time than this. I went to where one corner of the house would be and slammed down a piece of wood into the ground. I tried shaking it a couple of time, it didn't budge. I did that at the other three corners. I had to place them evenly apart so the house wouldn't be leaning over. Next was the "fun" part, knowing how much space I would need inside the hut. I didn't choose math as a major, but some of the material I've covered dealt with space and matter. I figured the edge of the hut shouldn't go over within five feet once over the pieces of wood. I quickly grabbed a notebook and pen out of my backpack (hey a writer needs to have something to inspire him) and made up some drawings. When I had the one I wanted picked out I ripped it out of the notebook and help it up to where the actual hut was going. This is where my draw and design class came in. Making correct proportions was very important when building. I didn't want to make it too small. I started off by laying pieces of wood on each of the four corners. The remaining pieces I put across the ground beneath the hut. I stood back a second and help my thumb out to make sure it would fit my drawings…I couldn't quite determine if I would have enough room for a bedroom, otherwise there would be a narrow hallway and enough room for a small bathroom and bed.

Now the real work started, I had to move quickly. My phone read 8:35pm though the sun looked like it was in no rush to set. It was as if…there was a giant underneath holding it up with all its strength.

"Atlas, wherever you are, you have my praise!" I yelled out.

A bird who happened to hear me repeated "Atlas, I'm praising you I'm praising you!" My face turned to it and gawked at it. It flapped its wings in retaliation but didn't move. I didn't bother going to it since I knew I was blessed with having more daylight left. My goal was get it done even if the moon came up before I laid the last board down.

The sun seemed to be up forever, as my body got dirtier and sweatier I made more progress. I could feel my body breathing heavily in which indicated that I would be done soon. I would have to sleep without sheets for a few days until I could find some. My pillow that I threw into my backpack would come in handy. Finally at 3:42am the last board was laid down. The roof has now covered my whole hut. Incidentally I took out my tape measure from my bag and made a measurement of its dimensions. My calculations read 14 x 20 ft. (Yea I know you're thinking how he could have built something that big in about six hours? Well to be honest it's a story, I can make it go however I want it to!) The second I put the board onto the roof I felt a raindrop against my cheek, but when I looked up there was a clear sky. Now I've heard of this kind of thing happening before, but what kind of circumstance must there be for it to occur? If you're wondering when the sun went down, well Atlas put up quite a fight to give me more time, but at about midnight he finally let his arms down in failure, I still salute him.

Right then I realized I needed something to sleep on as well as in. Sleeping on the floor was better then in the sand. I grabbed my pillow and slammed myself against the ground, the hut not moving at all. I gave out a breath of relief and closed my eyes waiting for the morning sky just around the corner…


	6. Sadness Settles in

May 31st, 2006

I looked at my cell phone which was in my pocket; it was a bit wet but nothing serious…11:15am, May 31st. I sighed as another month and come and gone. Going outside I looked up at the hut and was relieved to see that it had survived the night. I knew however that I would have to tighten the boards or else they would slide off eventually.

As the sun about reached it's peak for the day I went into the light and cracked my back. (Some people have told me that doing this is a sign that you have arthritis, correct me if I'm wrong) This has become more of a routine for me to lean my legs back and crack each one then turn them slightly making another sound. My back though did feel very stiff and needed some loosening up. If someone else had been on the island with me I would've had them give my back a massage. I stopped thinking about my body and started thinking about what needed to be done that day. I knew I needed something hard and firm to knock the boards down to. If I had a hammer then it would make my day a snap, instead it was going to be the opposite of that.

I began thinking about the dreams I had been having the past few nights. Even when I found something to hammer down the boards I still took my time knowing that something was missing from my life. When I was hammering down the boards it wasn't a matter of getting it done at this point, but rather doing the job right. Nothing around me seemed of importance anymore. I had realized that I wasn't happy doing the things I loved to do. As the sun disappeared from the sky I could feel the temperature dropping. Soon little raindrops started falling, each one representing a fear that I once held. I knew what needed to be done. After this rain my troubles would be cleared and my life started over. Just as I built my hut, I was building myself. Each piece needed to be added at one at a time. I had to go deeper to realize what I wanted.

Out of nowhere I found myself singing an old song that I loved as a child, "If we hold on Together" by Diana Ross. It teaches to not give up and to follow your heart to your goal. I figured I would make that my tagline…or at least until someone else arrived, then I would make them feel the same way.


	7. Procrastination

June 1st, 2006

The first day of June signaled that my birthday was not too far off. I still asked myself, "Would anyone be around for me to share if with?" I laid there in bed thinking of things that would never happen. How my chance of becoming successful was out of reach. And my chances of finding a girlfriend that I would be comfortable with. It's not that I didn't want to think about them, but they kept coming back.

Getting back to working I started up a fire regardless of how warm it was. I knew that only time would tell if I ever got off this island. Electricity didn't seem to be on my mind anymore, I was being taken away from technology and most things I would take for granted.

I decided to take a break for a bit. Though I hadn't done a whole lot I know this wasn't getting my anywhere. I ended up sleeping again outside the unfinished hut hoping that help would come soon.


	8. Friends with an Alligator

June 2nd, 2005

That day started off like any other. Not to make any observations but my routine seemed to be turning into a nightmare each day. I promised myself that I would do something different when I woke up each day. The water sparkled in the sun's rays. As I looked into it I saw an alligator float by.

I muttered slowly, "You feeling what I'm feeling?"

"Worse kid, I feel a lot worse then you."

I nodded and sat down and watched the alligator come up beside me.

"The name's Jack mate, I know you're frustrated with having no home right now."

"It's worse then that…it's just the feeling of being alone."

"Don't give it much thought kid, if you need a friend I'm here for you."

"Yea…well would you mind giving me some advice on how to build a hut then?"

He laughed slowly and walked up to where the pieces of wood that I had got in so far.

"It looks like all you really need to do is tie the wood together with some vines from the forest. Other than that you don't really need to worry at all." He said.

I sighed and walked back towards the water.

"Kid it isn't going to do you any good to just sit around all day; you must be productive at least."

"Ok first of my entire name is Brian; secondly it's hard to be productive when your mind is somewhere else!"

He shook his head and explained that being productive is more about finding something to do and not just thinking of what to do.

"You must put yourself in a situation that's just like yours! You must show people that you can survive on your own! You must be victorious!"

"Ok? And if I'm not victorious?"

"I don't know, I didn't think I'd have to say that."

I gave out a hard laugh and went back to where the pieces of wood lay, "I may not be good at building but at least I'm going to try to put up something that looks close to a hut!"

"That's the spirit kid! I'll be here beside you the whole way!"

And indeed he was for the rest of the day.

"Hey kid let's take a break for some dinner! You've earned yourself a hot feast, and I'm getting the food baby!"

I was glad that I didn't have to worry about getting into the water everyday just to get some fish or crab. He was able to get baby sharks and whole size lobsters.

"Have you tasted fresh lobster before?" he asked.

"Nah, even when I went to red lobsters I never had it."

"What's a Red Lobsters?"

"Eh it's a restaurant."

"Well what's a restaurant?"

"Somewhere you go to have food when you're too lazy to cook."

"Oh, got it!"

I nodded my head and waited for him to fish something out. As I lay there my mind started drifting off and I hadn't realized that I was so tired that I collapsed right there in the sand sleeping peacefully.

Jack didn't see this until he had already got the food. He poked me several times with the lobster but figured I was sleeping. "Sweet dreams kid, I'll see you in the morning."


	9. Breakfast and Diarrhea

June 3rd, 2006

"Wake up Brian, I have food for you!" Jack called out.

I rose up from the sand and noticed a wet spot from where I had left my mouth open.

"Eh, what are we having?"

"You mean what YOU are having what?" he said. "And you're in luck! I don't make this for everyone you know. You're an exception seeing all the hard work you did yesterday!"

I yawned and stretched my back making it crack several times before standing up.

"So tell me Jack, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Hold on there mate I'm almost done with this." He put the lobster onto a piece of wood and brought it over to me.

"Eh thanks a lot Jack, I appreciate it."

"You're worth it kid, now back to your question I do have a younger brother, Axel. No sisters though, thank goodness. What about you?"

"Yes I have one older brother and sister…I'm the youngest." I admitted.

"Ah there's nothing wrong with that, you just have to put up more of a fight with them."

"Tell me about it, but I don't get into as much trouble as they do. Plus sometimes they get blamed for things they didn't even do!" I laughed.

"I know how that is…it's happened to me quite a lot of times, come to think of it, perhaps too much."

"Well my sister's birthday is in a couple of days and it looks like I won't get to see her or give her a present at the most."

"Really how old will she be?"

"Twenty three"

"In human years I'd be about the equivalent of forty eight. I know I'm climbing up the ladder a bit too fast…"

"Yea well compared to my friends I'm the head honcho. In about a week I'll be twenty one. Then I'll be able to drink."

"Drink what? Water?"

"Well more than that…beer."

"Ah how I love that stuff, it never gets old no matter how many times you have it."

"Eh I don't have much of a preference for it. Usually beer to me is disgusting."

"Well everyone has their own taste in beverages."

I nodded and sat up for bit thinking about what had to be done today. Soon I forgot that jack was still there and got up wandering around to see what I could find in the way of wood and vines.

"If you're looking for vines you'll find them in the forest!" he yelled.

I turned for the forest and went inside. The first thing I noticed was that the animals seemed to never clean up after themselves; also that I wasn't watching where I was going and stepped into some shit.

"Ah shit, I'll have to clean this off my sandal later." I knew I couldn't walk barefoot through here so I kept them on without worrying too much about the smell.

Soon an iguana camp up to me, "He-he sorry about the mess back there, I'll clean that up as soon as my diarrhea calms down a bit."

"Don't tell me there's more of it around."

"Sorry, you might want to be more careful where you're stepping."

I sighed and continued walking around. The vines seemed to be stuck to the tree. When I went to rip them off it was like trying to rip a tail off of a dog.

"Man I shouldn't have to be working like this!" I thought to myself.

I didn't feel like struggling with it all day so I gave it one last tug and managed to get half of it off. Though it wasn't a vine…it was the tail of a monkey.

"Oh my god what the hell is wrong with you kid!" he screamed. "Are you blind or something, how could you not tell that was my tail you had!"

"Ah shit I'm sorry, I'm not thinking clearly right now."

"How will you fix this?"

"Don't worry I'll think of something, just right now let me get my house up then I'll repay you back."

The monkey glared at me and jumped higher into the tree.

"Wow this is going better than I thought…" I said aloud.


	10. Illness

June 4th, 2006

No excerpts due to illness also see jungle fever


	11. See chap 10

June 5th 2006

See June 4th for reasons


	12. Forgotten Birthday

June 6th, 2006

My stomach wouldn't stop talking to me as I leaned over having to throw up again.

"I'm sorry you had to end up like this Brian, don't worries I'm here in case you need anything."

"Yea I'm worried. Who's going to clean up all this when I'm done?"

"Eh it's already taken care of, my brothers hungry and can't wait any longer."

I looked at him and threw up again. This pretty much lasted the whole day going into the night as well. Jack hadn't been in the water for about a week now.

I was nearly asleep when jack said aloud, "Brian I may have a solution for your little monkey business." Jack announced as he cleared the table. "What you need to do is…well…I don't know, but don't worry I'll think of something."

I watched the sunset pass over us, "Jack I missed my sisters birthday, what am I going to do about that?"

"Hey what do I look like a psychiatrist? All you can do is hope that she has a nice birthday!"

I shrugged and looked at the hut which at least had a floor on it now as well as walls. "When do you think this will be completed?" I asked.

"Well Brian hopefully with in the next week or so. Who knows maybe someone else will arrive here."

"What makes you say that? I've been to pretty much the whole island."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Brian, there are other places they could be."

I was in a habit of sighing a lot though I don't know why. I was hoping a lot of rest would solve that for me.


	13. Making a Promise

June 7th, 2006

"Only four days until I can drink!" I shouted as I woke up.

"Ok Brian we all know the good news." Jack replied.

"I'm just…kind of excited that's all."

"I know you're lonely Brian, but remember…I'm here for you."

I was wondering how anyone could find themselves in this kind of situation. Most of them would never find me. However I made a commitment to find anyone else on here whether I had to kill myself or not doing it.

I would start in the morning.


	14. Suga Daddy

June 8th, 2006

I didn't know what to expect after having the flu. I was surprised at how well I handled it considering I hadn't caught it in over a couple of years.

"Brian if you need me I'll be in the water." Jack said making his way there.

I nodded slowly and finished up my breakfast.

Before Jack made it into the water I asked him, "Do you really think someone will come to me?"

"Of course kid, knowing you someone is out there making their way right towards us."

I looked around to see if there was anything left from Jack but nothing was on the wooden plate. Slowly I got up and changed into the last pair of clean shorts left and headed out to work on the hut. It didn't seem too far from completing. I had some of the rooftop on as well as vines that I found the other day; well actually I had Jack find them which he wasn't too happy about seeing he ran into the same mess as I did. Now the monkey was missing his whole tail.

I laughed softly and thought about what I could do to make this place better. There were wood chips all over the ground so I'd have to clean that up.

While I was doing this a jellyfish parked itself by the hut and yelled "Hey man need some help?"

I looked over the edge and saw the weirdest fish I had ever seen.

"Don't be looking at me that way man; I want to help you on this!"

"May I ask why you want to help?"

"Just being friendly that's all I guess…it's your decision though seeing it's your hut."

"Well what could you do to help?"

"Eh with one touch from my tentacles I could easily get those pieces of wood to stay together!"

"Ok just try not to sting me; I had a bad childhood when it came to you guys."

I picked him up slowly, "So what's your name?"

"The name's Suga Daddy! Glad to meet you…"

"Um Brian's the name."

I helped him against the wood carefully so he could get the wood to stick together.

He ended up doing this all day staying attached to the side while I cleaned up the place.

"There all we need to do now is finish the outside parts." I announced.

I yawned seeing as the sun was setting.

"Aye you better get to sleep man, I don't want you slacking behind!"

I agreed and set him down in a small puddle of water by the hut. I would've got in more rest that night if it hadn't been for someone's loud voice early on.


	15. Jason

June 9th, 2006

"Hey is anyone else here! Someone please say something if you're alive!" a voice cried out.

I had just about made up my mind to spear whoever was out there when I realized who it was and I lowered my guard.

"Jason, I'm glad as hell to see you survived!" I gave a breath of relief and told him, "Though if you ever shout like that again I will literally strangle you to death!"

We both laughed and headed back to where I had set up my hut and began working on it again. As the day progressed the sun slowly sank over the horizon. Soon there was nothing left but a mere shadow and we were starving at this point.

Jason was his own person, he never took orders, and he always agreed with what you wanted to do. Like me he was shy and quiet and often antisocial. I always thought he wasn't that much smaller then me when he was about 5'7, but when his hair grows out he looks a lot taller. We both had a desire for soccer and basketball; though we've known each other since high school we weren't close until our junior year together.

"So Brian, how are we getting food?"

I gave him a confused look and asked, "Well I've been here for two weeks, how have you been staying alive?"

Jason looked back and rubbed his stomach, "I haven't eaten since I got here!"

Not surprised I stood up and collected a long stick then breaking it in half and sharpening the tip.

"Here take this, it's a spear and you use it for fish!" Jason shrugged and went to the water waiting for something to come up. I figured I would let him figure out when the best time to catch them was. In the meantime I laid down for a rest hoping someone would see our hut from the sky. Jason still stood in the water as the sun was no long visible. I nearly was asleep when something came out of the tree above me making a bump on my head. Jason was nowhere to be seen in the dark, so I had to drink the coconut by myself.

As I got ready to throw it I heard a voice, "Wait! Don't throw!"

I turned around not seeing anyone and looked to the sides, no one. I shook my head in confusion and began to go through my motion of throwing it.

"Please sir I'm the only one left!"

Slowly my head turned around to the coconut.

"Yea that's right buddy, you think you can crack me like the rest of my family! When I fell from my home I knew I was a goner with you sitting there…sorry about the bruise, It'll heal in a few days."

I began breathing heavily and sat down putting my hands on my head.

"Don't be mistaken sir, I've been hanging out longer then you think. I've seen a lot of people come and go off this island, well actually most of them didn't make it alive."

Still trying to make sense of this I stood up and tried to think of what I have been doing for the past two weeks.

"My name is Cuddles, but you may call me Bud, everyone else in my family did until they got the knock out."

At first I thought I had lost it completely, none of it made sense, a talking coconut? I guess I haven't seen it all yet. A good night rest seemed like a good idea…again.


	16. Axel and The Japanese Torpedo

June 10th, 2006

The sun was bright in the sky when my vision came too; my contacts still in my eyes didn't affect my vision at all. I was in the mood for meat so I took my spear and headed off towards the water. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Jason in the same spot as last night, looking at the water.

"Um Jason you may move now!"

He looked up at me, "What did you say something? I was just doing as you told me to."

I didn't bother anymore and stuck my head underneath the water hoping to find some bass or salmon when an alligator came along. I had seen him before but didn't think about what he was up to.

I arched my back ready to lunge onto him when he said. "You think you can take me? Bad mistake if I do say so myself!"

I was frozen in my position.

"Excuse me; please tell me you didn't just talk." The alligator looked at me with clever eyes, one a bit bigger then the other.

"Well did you think I was going to let you hop onto me like a horse? I know better than to let someone put a sharp object through me and put me on a stick like a shiscabob." Immediately I had lost my appetite feeling like I had missed on something since I was born.

The alligator examined me, "My you don't look as old as most others that have attempted to spear me, and in fact you look like my son's age."

Embarrassingly I looked at him and muttered, "I was to turn 21 in a few days, but apparently I don't know many others to share it with."

He seemed to look interested in what I had to say so I continued, "My name is Brian, and I'm from Michigan which is…" I stopped and looked around.

Both of us looked over at Jason "Don't worry about your mindless friend over there; it looks like the fish will get him before he gets them!"

I laughed softly realizing he wasn't going to hurt me. "So Brian, it seems as though you've introduced yourself, but I'm forgetting my manners. My name is Axel." I nodded my head.

"It's amazing how many people want us dead, what have we done to deserve it? We're only trying to survive like you people out there." He said.

I knew what he was talking about and it made me realize that he was right about how wrong our world is.

"I know that we have our differences, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right?" he said.

I stopped and thought about for a moment and replied, "I know what you mean and it does seem senseless for there to be violence, but what can we do about it?"

Axel waded back a ways, "The only thing you can do is go about your life, it's no use trying to stop it. It'll only end up making things worse! My grandfather once told me that seeing someone hit another person was just like me trying to crack my head open on a rock, no matter how many times you do it; it doesn't get you anywhere."

Realizing how much time had gone by since we started talking I interrupted, "I'm sorry axel but I must be getting something to eat right now."

His eyes widened, "Well hey don't mind if I join you do you?"

I looked over at Jason, "Eh sure, do you mind if I ask you to get the food?"

He shrugged, "Kid you haven't seen anything yet!"

I watched him go further into the water and he lay lifeless for a while then as a group of trout swam by quickly he darted off scooping up a mouth full of them. I was most impressed by this.

I started a fire as he crawled up beside me.

"You're alright kid you know that?" he told me with a mouthful of food. "I'm glad that we're friends regardless of what happens between us."

And just as he said that Jason spotted another alligator making it's way across the water. I tried to stop him but he had already lunged onto it.

"Jason no don't they're our friends! Axel you must stop him!"

He swam back into the water trying to get Jason off of his brother. Jason didn't stop trying to wrestle the creature and knock it out of its misery. Finally axel whistled underneath the water so loud Jason had to let go to cover his ears. As he stood up I ran over to him, "You idiot you almost got yourself killed! They don't want to harm us!" He gasped at me and looked over at Axel.

"The kid has a point" Axel said slowly.

Jason looked as if he was the dumbest person on the island, "Brian what the hell is you thinking! They don't want to be friends they're trying to trick you into trusting them!" Axel interrupted him, "If I may say something, I didn't mean for this to happen and I should've said something before it happened."

Jack didn't seem the least bit grateful of what axel had done and took off into the ocean.

"I'm sorry about him, Brian; he's had it rough since our father passed away fifty years ago." I nodded in agreement, "It was back in World War II, he was swimming along the barrier reef when out of nowhere a Japanese sub came alone without warning and blew up one of your American ships, and he never saw it coming until it was too late."

I saw a tear approach his eye and I sat down beside him.

"Things like that happen all the time, whether or not you want it to you have no choice." He muttered at his face was now streaming with tears.

He looked up at me like I had become somewhat closer to him, "Let's call it a day eh?" he asked slowly.

By now the sun was high and about. Bud was getting his mid morning tan out of the way. Continuing on the hut Jason and I got together more sticks and leaves so that we'd be ready when the rain came. Up to this point there was only one day of rain in which the tide came up a bit. Lately though we've had a drought and the sun was a killer at most.

"Hey Brian let's finish this hut before the rain comes!" Jason yelled out.

I sighed and went inside, "You know we won't have this finished for at least another week!"

"Damn it Jason you should be happy that you weren't eaten by that alligator! From now on you can do your own work on this and let me do mine!" I didn't get upset with him though I wished he would consider how I felt about being here with him as well.

As the sun set in I put up the last palm branch on top of the hut for the day. Axel came crawling up by the fire I had just started a while ago.

"How are you and Jason doing?"

Not really thinking about it I blurted out, "It's not fair, I've never had to spend some much time with someone within a period of time!"

Axel looked at me like I was overreacting and calmly replied, "I think you need to realize something. I've been around years ahead of you and I've seen all sorts of situations like this. Yours seems like something children would argue about and it's no big deal."

I tried listening but my head was telling me otherwise. "I appreciate your advice Ax, but I don't think I can take it anymore. I need to get off of this island!"

Axel agreed, "I know how you feel, and it'll be disappointing for me to see you going. Just know that I'm here for you."

I thanked him and continued sitting by the fire eating a fish that he had brought me when he arrived. As I ate it I started thinking of how fortunate I should be that I didn't die when I landed on the island. I looked at Axel and smiled a bit though he didn't see me do it. Soon we headed off to rest, him towards the water and I into the hut.

That night I had troubles getting to sleep, I knew it wasn't caffeine because I hadn't had a taste of pop in nearly three weeks. It seemed as though something was trying to communicate with me, the question though was what? As my eyes got heavier I slowly thought about what Axel said and went off into a deep slumber, only to be awakened with a bang.


	17. Double Trouble

June 11th, 2006

When I came to I realized that I had left the fire going when Axel left; so I rushed out only to see a huge pile of smoke going in the air, I was surprised that no one else saw it.

"Oh snap! Who forgot to put the fire out!" I said to myself.

Jason didn't seem to be bothered by it; he was still knocked out on his bed. I could hear him saying, "Ronaldo goes to the net…and goal!"

I shook my head in disbelief and ran out to the water calling for help when I realized that no one else was coming.

Then out of the clearing I saw two figured running my way with some sort of hose like object.

"Stand aside!" they shouted.

I backed up tripping on a tree branch that had fallen during the night. Not feeling the pain, I watched them streaking towards the fire.

The two girls worked simultaneously to put the fire out, one putting the hose in the ocean, the other spraying at the fire. As the fire went down I looked at my foot that was cut a little and took a piece of palm and wrapped it around the foot so it wouldn't spread the infection.

The girls came over to me, "What were you thinking starting a fire like that!" one of them asked.

"I had no idea it would get like this, you see I accidentally forgot to put it out last night."

"Yea right this was no accident! And it certainly wasn't a mistake, you trying to burn down the island son?"

And that's when axel crawled up from the ocean and said, "Yes ladies I see I forgot to put out the fire, it was my fault."

The girls looked at each other and laughed, "Oh man you're killing me! A talking alligator, what will they think of next!"

Axel scratched his head and replied, "Don't be mistaken for my knowledge, I have seen you people since you landed here, scurrying about your life trying to make it better for us when in fact you're making it worse!"

The girls had no clue that Jason and I were part of the group that had landed on the island.

"So how long have you guys been here alone?"

I took a guess, "About three weeks."

They nodded in agreement, "Well let us introduce ourselves!"

The taller one announced, "I'm Tara!"

And the shorter one perked up, "I'm Cree!"

All together they said, "And we're the Double Duo!"

I slowly started laughing to myself and soon it grew into a hysterical laugh.

Axel only looked at me in confusion, "Well Brian what's so funny this time?"

I looked at him, "You know how many times I've heard something as stupid as that! You've got to be kidding me!"

Tara didn't seem the least bit amused, "Well next time you're caught in a jam don't look for us to save you! Where's your friend, didn't you say there was someone else here?"

I pointed towards the hut, "Yes Jason is still sleeping"

And just as I said that he came out scratching his back, "Hey Brian I heard an explosion what's…" His voice trailed off as he saw Cree standing there.

I didn't blame him for not finishing up the sentence, all and all Cree was as attractive as you'd hope to find in a girl. Her water blue eyes sparkled like his and her golden blond hair blew around in the breeze that could be felt on the island.

I waved my hand several times in front of Jason's face hoping to not embarrass him at all.

By the time he had come to she started laughing a bit. She whispered something in my ear that I couldn't quite make out. I just shrugged and went back inside.

Meanwhile Jason and Cree stood outside talking for a bit. Tara, however, felt the need to come inside and continue bothering me about the fire.

"You should be at my knees praising me for putting out that thing! Never in all my life have I seen such incompetents!"

I didn't respond to anything she said knowing she'd only argue it. Soon I stopped and turned around facing her.

"Look I have a lot of work to do around here, if you aren't going to help then please leave."

She stood about the same height as me nearly 5'11 as well and looked at me, "Oh don't worry about me I can do whatever you need me to, and just tell me what sir!"

I clenched my fists ready to pounce on her but I knew that wouldn't help at all.

I poked my head outside to see what Cree and Jason were up to. They were in the water and Jason was trying to teach her how to spear a fish. All and all they were quite the same in most ways, very shy, the antisocial of our group, and both had an excellent understanding of soccer.

Also they both never took seriously to anything, only when it became a challenge did they speak their mind.

Tara and I however, took everything seriously. At the rate I saw this going between us I knew I wouldn't have a chance with anyone else.

It was about 3:45 in the afternoon by now even though we didn't have watches we could tell by how high the sun was. I decided to take a break by the time the sun was starting to go down.

The four of us agreed to stay in the hut that Jason and I had almost finished. The sleeping arrangements were something else.

"Hey, hey I get the bed!" Tara yelled.

"Oh me too, I want that warm blanket!" Cree yelled after her.

Jason and I looked at each other and broke in between them, "If anyone is getting the beds it's going to be us two!"

The girls looked confused, "We've always had the beds though. It's not fair for you to get everything you want."

I nearly fell down laughing when Tara said that. "You've got to be kidding me; we've been working on this thing since we got here...well I started it actually."

Jason as smart as he was finally came up with a solution, "I know let's just add on to the hut."

Tara didn't seem thrilled about the whole idea of working. Instead she just stomped off outside and sat by the water. Still being seventeen she had a lot to learn about working with others. I had found that out the hard way. She was more like me as Cree was to Jason. Tara tended to be difficult to work with as well as…a big mouth. No offense, but she had a lot to figure out before she could fit in.

Cree, however, was content with each decision that Jason had made, they could agree on anything. Though she was eighteen, she acted more mature then Tara did.

Bud rolled his body up to me a few moments later and asked how things were coming. His Jamaican accent fooled no one.

"So man, how is the hut building project coming along?"

I shook my head, "I suppose it could be better, we're not the only ones on this island anymore."

I pointed over to Tara and Cree who were sitting by the edge of the water, Tara still seemed bothered by something, though I didn't want to ask.

"It looks as though you may have hurt her feelings man." He said concerned.

"What are you talking about? She was all in my face since she got here."

Bud couldn't help but laugh, "Right, but now that you aren't the only ones on this island. You're going to have to think about Tara as well and not just yourself."

I tilted my head, "I have Jason here."

Again he countered me, "That's not what I mean; I think she's taken an interest in you."

At this point I was pretty much fed up with talking about her, "How do you figure?"

"Brian…it looks like you need to think about this before making any hasty conclusions. I've been keeping an eye on her since she was here as well as you. She needs someone to talk to and not only her friend Cree."

I laughed harder then ever this time, "I can't believe I'm the only one on this island who's thinking reasonably! You can't be serious about me being with her!"

His face turned solid, "Well Brian it's your decision, I'm only telling you what is best right now."

It wasn't that I didn't want to be with her, once you get past her talking she can really be a sweetheart, but right now I had other things to take care of. It was things to help me survive.

That night I started to feel bad for the way I acted at Tara. When I asked Axel to get us some food I asked him to ask Tara how she was doing.

When he came back I could tell by his face that she was still down.

"I take it she's not better?"

"Brian, go over there now and have a serious talk with her. Don't worry about dinner I already have that taken care of!"

I looked at him with confusion, "Please tell me you didn't get Jason."

He pointed over, "Not just him, but Cree as well, they seem to be bonding quite well. We just have to work on you two now."

I took in a deep breath and walked slowly over to her thinking of what I would say. As I approached her she looked up at me, "What do you want? This had better be good considering you don't want me around!"

"Hey, I'm sorry if I seemed short tempered earlier. I do want you around; you know that, I'm just doing my best to help us get off the island."

She didn't respond.

"Look this is the deal, now that Jason and I aren't the only ones on the island anymore we have to think about each other now. No more of this going off by yourself, if you have something to say then say it. We aren't playing games, this is real! I know I can be hard to talk to at times, but I guess now that you're here I'm going to have to put that aside and start thinking about other people." I took a big breath before saying this; "If you want you can have the…bed" I nearly passed out from saying it.

"Oh Brian that doesn't matter, I know when I've gone too far. You've worked hard for that, I don't want to take it away from you. All this time I've had no one close to talk to. Cree and I have been best friends so I know we won't be leaving each other anytime soon. You however are something else, when I first saw you I wanted to impress you but I couldn't think of doing it in a good way. I know you think I'm a loud mouth who still has a lot to learn."

I turned red when she said that, "I did think that at first, and I'll be honest. I'm somewhat intimated by you, not that it matters to me, but we have a lot of things in common as well. I don't want to argue with you on little things like we were doing before. So this is what is going to happen with the bed situation. You and Cree will have Jason's room. Jason and I will sleep in my room. We'll work on getting everyone a bed so that we won't have to switch every night."

When I said switching she whispered in my ear, "If it's ok with you I'd like to sleep in your room. Not for anything sexual…yet. Just for protection. Cree can sleep in Jason's room with him."

We ended the conversation with an agreement on what we could and couldn't do for the time.

By then axel had food ready by the fire. We all had a big feast and sang some songs that we knew of, no country though. As you'd expect I let Tara sit by me, well it was actually more of her decision.

"Hey Brian, do you really want to sit by me that bad? I didn't think I was that popular around here! Well in your case I'll make an exception, come on over here and sit your big butt down!"

I tried having a good sense of humor about it and laughed. It didn't sound right though.

Axel unveiled his feast for us. No one said so much as "thank you" or "wow this looks great". Instead they dove right in getting everything they could.

Axel just watched in awe beside me as we watched them eat, I didn't have much of an appetite after they were done.

"Hey look Brian; if you look close enough to the plate I saved you a leg!" Jason joked.

I leaned forward looking at a piece of leg no bigger then my pinky. "Gee guys you shouldn't have…" I gave it to Axel instead and ended up with nothing.

"So what are we doing after dinner?" Tara asked.

Jason and I looked each other then the sky, "I think we had better turn in right now."

The moon glowed brightly onto the island.

"Oh come now we got to dance at least!" She pleaded.

I sighed and went to whisper something into Jason's ear that they wouldn't hear.

"Brian is you really serious?"

I nodded my head and pointed at Cree.

He nodded his head and asked Cree if she wanted to go talk some more on the other side of the hut.

Axel slowly made his way to the water.

"Turning in for the night?" I asked him.

He looked back and belched, "Yes you could say that, sweet dreams you two."

I nodded my head and watched him swim deeper into the ocean. So now Tara and I were alone.

"I wish we had some music to play right now." I said quietly.

She looked at me with a gentle smile and was curious as to what I was saying. "Fortunately for you I have a boom box!"

I swung my head towards her, "Are you serious? Does it still work!"

She laughed, "Well of course it does silly, why what are you getting at?"

I ran inside the hut quickly and grabbed my iPod and came back out. I came out with the extension that would let us tune the iPod into the radio so we could listen to the songs on it. "All we need to do is find a clear station and set it to the right tuning."

Soon we had Cold Play playing in the background. Jason and Cree heard the music and both shouted back, "Hey what's with all the noise, turn it down damn it!"

We both laughed and turned the volume down a bit. I found a song that we could slowly dance to.

I reached for her hand asking, "May I have this dance?"

She thought about it for a moment then replied, "Why Brian, you asking me to dance with you?"

Without hesitation I replied, "And only slow dancing, I'm not into that whole thing off getting up on the stage and going crazy!"

She perfectly understood, "Most people would think I'm the kind of girl who would do that, but in reality I'm just as quiet as you are."

She looked at me like she never had before, "I really do feel like we have something special between us Brian. I just know we do even though we just met earlier, and even if we don't realize it right away there will always be that connection between us."

I put my arms down by her waist and gave her a big hug, "Don't worry Tara; I'll be here to protect you. You'll never have to worry about being alone again."

She rested her head on my shoulder as we danced a lot in the sand, "Oh Brian isn't the stars lovely!"

I looked up at the sky, "Indeed, but not as lovely as you though."

She stopped at looked at me, "Do you really mean that? Oh Brian that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about me!"

As we started up the iPod began to beep and I knew that the battery would be dead soon.

"Hey we have a wireless input that you can use to recharge your iPod thingy."

My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I heard that. "What? Why didn't you say so sooner! ; are you serious! Wow I thought once it went dead that I would go crazy from no music, I guess things will turn out alright."

The moon was high in the sky as we decided to head in. Before Jason could go in I told him what Tara and I discussed earlier.

"Brian is you sure this is a good idea?"

"Well seeing as though Tara's the one who decided it I don't have much of a say in it."

He groaned and went into his room while I went into Tara's. She was still outside talking to Cree.

When she did come in her red eyes glowed in the dark.

"I'm glad we got to do this Brian, we're going to be very happy together."

I tucked myself into bed, "I'm glad you're happy Tara. Let's get some rest right now."

"Actually Brian I'd like to talk some more before we go to sleep."

I sighed and leaned up against the wall of the hut. "Well what should we talk about?"

"How about we do twenty questions?" she asked.

I agreed and started out first. This lasted longer than I thought it would. Soon I could feel that we were the only ones up.

"Ok, I'm officially exhausted. It's time for bed Tara."

She didn't argue and made herself comfy on the floor, but for some reason she still squirmed a lot.

"Tara…I suppose if you want we can share the bed instead."

I was hoping she'd say no considering we just met.

"Are you sure Brian? Wouldn't this be against our rules?"

"No I just want you to feel comfortable is all."

She smiled and climbed in with me, "Thank you Brian, you really are a nice guy after all."

I smiled and closed my eyes with hers looking into mine.


	18. Late and Little Dinner

June 12th, 2006

By the time I woke up everyone had already gotten cleaned up and was outside doing their daily work. I noticed a bit of drool coming off my mouth as I got up and quickly wiped it away before anyone else saw but it was too late, Tara had spotted me through the window. "Oh man that's gross!" And with that she went out shouting, "Brian was drooling in his sleep, I saw it!"

There was laughter after that for the next five minutes it seemed like. Finally when everyone settled down I came out and saw that they had been working on the hut together. I faintly smiled and went to the water to wash myself up. As I cleared my face up I saw something green and yellow floating around in the water, it was a tennis ball!

I ran into the water grabbing it, "Hey Jason looks what I got here!"

He looked over at me and started laughing, "Dude what are you going to do with that, we have nothing to hit it with!"

I came back on shore and grabbed a stick, "We'll play like the old days when all they had was fruit and tree sticks!"

So we all agreed to play a game later on when we were done working on the hut.

"Hey Jason, do you know what yesterday was!" I shouted as we were holding up the roof off the hut.

"No Brian, what's so special about yesterday?"

I took a few seconds to reply as Cree and Tara added some palm leaves below the roof. Then as we set the roof back on, I cleared my throat.

"Today, well yesterday was the most important day of anyone's life! I now have the ability to drink…beer…and legally!"

They all looked at me like I had too much to drink the night before, "Brian, it doesn't matter, no one is here that could tell anyways." Cree said.

I shrugged and continued working.

I asked axel to come help me get some vines for the hut. He agreed to and we went off into the forest looking about.

"Wow I didn't think these kind of plants existed!" As I spotted a very exotic red and orange flower that looked like it was hundreds of years old.

"Oh that thing, it's nothing special Brian, I've seen plenty of those around here."

I shrugged and picked it up and decided to give it to Tara when I got back. Axel gave off a big smile in knowing that I was learning more not to think about myself only. I smiled a bit and continued on looking for a vine to use on the hut. We needed it to hold the roof down when it rains hard with the possibility of hurricanes as well. Axel was the first to spot a vine and fortunately it was on the ground. I wrapped it up into a bundle and stuck it in axels mouth. After a while my feet were hurting from the little pieces of stone that were slipping underneath my sandals. I thought to myself that I should start washing some clothes when I get back so I'll have something new to wear in the morning.

About an hour later we started to head back towards the main land. Everyone else was going about their own business.

I looked at the hut which looked nearly twice as long as it had when I left. It felt good to have more people around you who cared and actually wanted to do something for a change. Tara was trying to tie a knot in one of the ropes that were attached to the hut. I snuck up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Immediately she turned around, her face turning red.

"Ha-ha sorry about that, I wanted to give this to you."

She took the flower and smiled back up at me.

"Oh Brian that's very thoughtful of you, I'll have to put this is some water later." She gave me a hug and went back to tying the rope.

It felt like we had no sense of time anymore, so Jason and I started working on making a sun dial.

He knew more about those than I did so he arranged the stones in a circle.

After a while he had the dial made and all he had to do now was line up the circle so that it reflected off the sun. The time read 6:25pm. By now we had completed all the tasks that were necessary for us to get done.

Axel didn't come up to shore like he normally did. So we had a problem of getting food since we weren't used to doing it on a regular basis. Everyone volunteered me to go out and get something.

Cree found Bud over by the palm tree, "Hey let's have some coconut!"

Bud started rolling around in her hand shouting, "Oh please not this again!"

Cree screamed and dropped him, fortunately for Bud his hard shell kept him from cracking.

"Brian how long have you been talking to these creatures and coconuts?" Cree kept asking me.

"You tell me, I've pretty much become used to it now."

I made my way into knee high water and watched for anything that might be moving and alive.

A jelly fish slowly waded towards me. A sense of panic grew in me and hopped out of the water.

Jason happened to see me do it.

"Hey Brian what's the deal? It's only a jellyfish."

I looked at him in disbelief, "I was stun by one of those little bastards when I was about six years old! You think I'm going to take that risk again, you know how long their legs are!"

He backed off a bit, "Ok take it easy, and let me handle the food situation for the night."

I sighed and went back towards the fire. Forty Fives minutes passed before we saw Jason again, "So Jay, where's the food?" Tara asked impatiently.

"Calm down you should be lucky I have anything at all, he held out two roasted crabs, one smaller then the palm of his hand.

"Um Jason, that won't be enough for right now. I guess we don't really have a choice, we'll have to divide up who gets what." I told him.

I ended up getting a leg and an arm for dinner, well everyone pretty much did. I noticed that Tara's dinner was a bit bigger then mine but I didn't say anything.

I pretended to rub my belly, "Wow that was sure filling!"

Everyone else looked at me with a frown, "Oh please Brian, spare us your bruised ego and let's have some real food! We're sick of having the same thing over and over!"

I tried to explain to them that we had no other choice.

"Try to imagine this like you're in college, when you get there you'll be having the same stuff over and over, no matter what else you want the only thing you can have is fish! We should be lucky in the first place that we have even a little bit to eat. Let's just get some rest and worry about breakfast in the morning."


	19. Dirty Laundry and A Scary Moment

June 13th, 2006

I woke up to someone's breath in my face, "Oh good grief what the hell is that!"

I yelled opening my eyes.

Axel was hunched over onto me, "I just thought you'd like some breakfast in bed."

I looked down and saw a couple of cooked bass and roasted lobster. I patted him on the head, "Well thank you axel, I was wondering what happened to you yesterday, it turns out we do need you for getting us food, Jason tried to get some dinner but came up with crabs that were no bigger than his hand!"

He smiled and watched me eat, "I couldn't find anything to drink, so you may have to resort to ocean water again."

I shrugged, "Maybe Cree or Tara has one of those portable water filter thingies."

When I finished eating axel cleaned up what was left and came out with me into the sunny day. No one else was around so I figured I'd get started on my laundry. I went back inside and grabbed my suitcase then came back out and went towards the water.

"You know Brian you should be careful when you're doing this."

I turned around to him, "Be careful about what?"

His eyes shrunk, "I mean…the jellyfish, I overheard your conversation with Jason last night, ha-ha, and I'm only kidding with you!"

I pretended to back hand slap him and continued on getting the dirt out of my clothes one piece at a time.

Out of curiosity Axel stuck his head into my suitcase and pulled out a pair of underwear, "Hey what are these for?" he asked.

"Well those are for…um…..keeping your pants up, yea, and if you don't wear them every time you wear pants they'll fall down!"

He backed up, "Wow sounds pretty embarrassing!"

I smirked under my breath and continued.

By the time I was done everyone else had came back to the hut for some lunch.

"So Brian did you have fun washing your laundry?" Tara smirked.

"Yea really Brian, why would you wear underwear to keep your pants from falling down?" Jason laughed.

My face turned red as a rose, "Well what else was I supposed to tell him?"

And out of nowhere Axel yelled, "They have a point you know Brian, I'm not that stupid!"

I sat back on the sand trying to be a good sport about it.

"Anyways enough with the spying, who here is hungry!" Tara asked.

Everyone raised their hands except me. "Um right now I don't have much of an appetite."

Everyone stopped what they were doing, "Oh get real Brian, you know you're hungry you're just too embarrassed to admit it!" Tara yelled.

"Oh please, I have other things I should be doing." I calmly said.

"Like what, hitting tennis balls!" Jason countered.

"No like smacking you upside the head Jason!" In which I did without hesitation.

Everyone seemed to be against me that day, even Axel made some comments that seemed unlike him.

That afternoon I sat around without doing anything, Axel came up, "I'm sorry about earlier Brian, you know you need to laugh at yourself sometimes."

I looked over at him, "I know I just get irritated sometimes. I…" I stopped for a moment.

"You get what?" he asked.

"Never mind, I have something I have to do; I'll see you at dinner."

He didn't know what was going on but I figured he'd ask again soon. I went over to the side part of the island and sat there watching the waves go in and out. I heard footsteps behind me in which Tara made her way up beside me.

"Everyone wanted me to come apologize for them, Axel is right Brian, and you have to laugh at yourself once in a while. Since we met I have never seen you laugh once."

My head was still down, "I'm sorry I can't help it, it's one of those things that can't be explained."

She tried to be understanding and passionate but it was one of those things that you can't help but yell at.

"Brian please you have to believe me, I want you to feel comfortable talking to me!" My eyes turned red a bit and I took in a big breath, "Even if I told you why I act like I do you wouldn't understand! You think you would but you wouldn't!"

I said with tears beginning to form in my eyes.

I wiped my nose off and stood up, "If you want this to work out between us you must give me time." I ran off leaving her by the shore.

When I got back everyone was looking at me wondering what had happened.

"Brian what's wrong?" Cree asked.

I didn't bother looking over instead I went into the hut and lied down on my bed for a bit. I began thinking about how she has been there for me since she arrived. I must have forgotten about it because soon I was asleep and having the same dream I did a few nights ago. It seemed like I had slept the whole day, when I walked out it was dark out and the moon was high. I looked in Tara's room and surely enough her and Cree were sleeping. However Jason wasn't in our room.

Soon I heard someone ask, "Brian, why aren't you letting Tara help you?"

I turned around and saw Jason leaning against the hut.

"I saw her going into the hut with tears in her eyes."

I walked up to him, "You know you're not the one who has to put up with this! Let me take care of my own business I don't need you poking around!"

He didn't move at all, "Well Brian looks like you have a decision to make, either it's her or you can kiss our friendship good bye."

He made his way past me and into the cabin. I fell down underneath the tree putting my head against my knees with little tears coming down.

I thought to myself, "Why me, why is this happening. I just wish it was all a bad dream!"

My mind was so full of Tara that I hadn't bothered moving from the side of the hut and soon I fell asleep against it.


	20. A Dream of Death and Waiting

June 14th, 2006

The only thing waking me up was the sun itself. I looked around; no one else in sight, not even Axel was there to comfort me.

My eyes still felt dry and red from last night. As I got up and brushed the sand off my knees I heard voices coming from inside the hut.

"Tara you have to calm down, you must give him a chance!"

I could hear her crying still.

"I know its hard dear, but you can't let it get to you!"

Soon Jason walked out and shook his head at me. I only glared at him and poked my head inside.

"Tara may I please talk to you alone?"

She wiped the tears coming out of her eyes and tried to say, "I guess so, if it's about us."

I closed the door on my way in that was just installed yesterday.

I slowly put my hand on her shoulder, "I want you to understand something right now Tara, I really do like you a lot and you're a very pretty young girl!"

She looked up at me with a twinkle in her eye, "Do you really mean that Brian?"

I took a deep breath as I said this next thing, "I want you to know that sometimes I can have rapid mood changes or emotions rather, I have a medical disorder which causes me to act one way and then completely different the next. I have seizures in other words."

She dried out her face and leaned over to give me a hug, "Brian I still liked you before you told me that, I want you to know you can trust me…I…I love you!"

My eyes began to fill up with tears again, "Even after everything I said yesterday? Why didn't you just tell me?"

We sat there for what seemed like a week before we finally got up, and then we both agreed that we were going to take it day by day.

She whispered into my ear, "If you come back in an hour I want to show you something." I felt a big surge of energy run through me at that exact moment.

As I walked outside Jason happen to be standing there, without hesitation I put my arm around him, "It looks like we're still friends man!"

He smiled and turned around and went back to helping Cree with making some kind of flower hat. I gave out a breath of relief and went down by the shore and looked out over the horizon.

"Beautiful isn't it, love I mean" Axel said as he came up beside me."

I gave him a big hug, "You have no idea do you? I don't know what I was doing wrong this whole time!"

He seemed breath taken by it and calmly said, "Uh Brian could you ease up a bit I think you're choking me."

Embarrassingly I let go not saying anything.

"So do you think everything will be alright?" I asked.

He looked at me like I still had something that was bothering me, "Trust me Brian, I'm here to help you, don't give it another thought!"

My stomach began to talk to me, "I think we'd better eat before I puke out my brains. I haven't eaten since yesterday."

He gasped, "Well then leave it to me, give me five minutes and I'll get you something worth while."

I headed back towards the hut and sat down, my stomach for some reason didn't agree with something I had eaten a while ago. Even after Axel brought me something it seemed to get worse.

"I think you had better go inside and lay down!"

He warned, "I've seen this before, if you don't want to become weak you should go sleep for a while."

I took his advice and headed inside.

Tara happened to be standing there in her entry way, "So Brian is you ready?"

She hadn't noticed that I didn't feel good, "I'm sorry Tara but it'll have to wait until tomorrow right now my stomach feels like shit!"

She gave me a hug, "Well at least it's something you'll get to wait for even more now!"

I lied down on the bed knowing Jason wouldn't mind and closed my eyes. Everything around me seemed to be spinning and making me even dizzier then before. My breathing picked up and I felt like my heart had come up to my throat. I yelled for Jason to come in, but it was too late. My leg began to shake badly and my eyes rolled to the back of my head.

"Jason where are you!"

He ran in right after that and tried to control my body, "Brian hold still! Tara, go get some water now!"

Tara was crying again and couldn't seem to stop it so Cree grabbed a bucket and ran outside to get some water. Soon I had regained my breath but my body was still very weak from the shock. Jason told them it was a mild seizure and that I should be alright within a few hours. He didn't leave my side until I was better again.

I looked over at him with tears in my eyes, "Do I have any more medication?" He looked through my bag getting out the bottles, "You have one pill left Brian, what should we do?"

I thought about it for a second, "I guess there's nothing we can do. I have to face the truth whether I like it or not!" I took in a deep breath and felt my heart rising again. "Jason…" and again my leg went out of control, only this time it didn't last as long.

Axel came in soon with some kind of needle like object, "Brian if you can hear me I need you to not move at all, this is going to hurt!"

I faintly looked over at him and felt a sharp pain in my arm. Both he and Jason looked further away as my vision went out.

Jason looked at him, "What was that that you put in him?"

Axel didn't respond, he only continued wrapping a vine around my arm, "It's a secret formula that's been known to stop several medical conditions from ever happening again, one of which being epilepsy.

"Then how come no one has found out about it?"

Axel looked up with a solid face, "Well think about it, which else has been on this island that had something as bad as Brian. It looks like he's had it bad for a while."

The only thing Jason could do was watch and listen, "I've known him since we started high school though we were never close at the time…I didn't realize he had it until our sophomore year when one game in soccer he had one on the side line. Only the coach knew what to do."

Axel tried shaking me a few times to see if I was awake at all but I didn't budge. "Well let's leave him be for a while and see what happens."

Tara and Cree were outside by the fire, "Is he going to be alright!" Tara cried.

Axel nodded his head, "If our timing is right he shouldn't have another seizure as long as he's alive. We must give him time."


	21. Recovery and Team Brazil

June 17th, 2006

Several days went by and I still wasn't awake. Everyone knew that a miracle would happen soon, it had too! Even axel stayed out of the water just so he could see me if I woke up again. Tara hadn't eaten anything since I went out.

Finally four days later my eyes awoke. My head felt like a weight had been put on it. I cocked my head to one side looking around and tried reading my cell phone, 4:18am. Jason was sound asleep on the floor. I knew this wasn't the right time to make an entrance so I went back to sleep. When morning rolled around Jason still was sleeping. I didn't wake him and gently made my way out where Cree was the only one up. I made a motion to her saying to not make any noise.

The only thing she did was give me a hug, "Oh Brian thank god you're alright! Please don't ever let that happen again, Jason was with you this whole time and he didn't know if you'd survive or not."

I nodded, "Whatever that was that Axel put into me, well I feel like I've been reincarnated or something." I asked her to sit down by the fire.

I made my way over to the water and looked around for Axel who was floating nearby. I thought about waking him up to thank him but again I'd wait until the timing was right. A few hours later Jason was the next to come out.

When he saw me standing there he ran over to me and gave me a hug as well, "Thank god you're alright Brian! Don't ever do anything like that again!"

I didn't say anything except hug him back. I knew that we had been through nearly everything together now. There was nothing that seemed impossible anymore.

When Tara still hadn't come out I decided to go in and surprise her. I crept through the room trying not to disturb her and slowly I rested my hand on her face. She nudged a bit turning towards me and slowly opening her eyes.

"Ha Brian I'm so relieved you're ok! I heard Jason and Axel talking about your condition a few days ago!" She slowly sped off course, "I just want us to be together! Don't ever leave me!"

I tried to calm her down, "Listen, later I'm going to have a talk with Axel and see what's going on with me. In the meantime let's go outside, we'll get around to your surprise tonight, ok?"

She kissed me slightly, "Anything for you sweetie!"

As we got out both Jason and Cree were eating. "We saved both of you some lobster!"

Tara didn't seem interested but I sat down and had some anyways.

"So Jason what exactly was that that Axel did to me?"

He tried to be understanding, "Well Brian it was some kind of exotic formula I guess, you'll have to ask him though yourself if you want to get solid answers."

I laughed a bit, "Well I'm just glad we're all together.

"Say Brian when are we going to have that tournament you were talking about a while ago?" Cree asked. Out of the back of my head I tried thinking about what she meant then suddenly it hit me, literally.

"Hey Brian, you thought you would go on without us!" A familiar voice rang out. We all looked around and saw four people coming in off the coast. Well the guys were people we knew, the girls was a different story. I picked up the tennis ball that had hit me.

Scott and Beraht came onto shore, both wearing yellow soccer jersey's and black shoes. Behind them were two girls.

Tara stayed close at my side, "Brian who are these people?"

I looked at her, "These are a couple of friends of mine that were on the plane as well."

Scott took the tennis ball out of my hands, "Looks like we have a new target in mind, don't we Beraht?"

Beraht looked at him, "It's more than that, its sweet revenge!"

I tried making sense of this, "I don't know exactly what you're talking about, but if it's about baseball then it'll have to wait."

Tara and Jason looked at me, "Brian you were the one talking about the tour…" Scott and Beraht leaned closer, "What's that we hear? You thought you could have a tournament without us?" They asked cockily.

"Well now it looks like we have a game to play! Tonight, no wait, tomorrow at sunrise we start! Will you need a place to stay?" I asked.

They laughed, "Nah, but out here by the fire is fine enough!" Tara asked if she could speak to me alone.

I agreed and went off with her to the other side of the hut, "Brian I don't trust those guys one bit, plus they didn't introduce those girls who were with them!"

I looked concerned back at her, "There's only one way to find out if this is for real or not, I too have a feeling of suspicion that they are acting different."

I took her hand and kissed it, "Don't worry, it'll be ok."

She looked back at me, "We should hold off then on our little surprise for a bit until we know if we can trust them or not."

I shook my head right away, "Good idea, let's see if they're the real Scott and Beraht to me."

That night things calmed down a bit. At the fire I asked Scott to talk alone with me. "Scott, I don't want this to sound wrong, but you seem different for some reason." He seemed impatient, "Well the sooner we get to the tournament the sooner you'll find out why!"

I tried getting through to him, "Dude what's the matter with you, you've never acted like this before!"

He laughed to himself, "Now Brian, don't be jealous just because we're going to win and rub it in your face!"

By now I had put up with his insolence. "Tomorrow, when I kick both your asses, you'll regret for landing on this island with us!"

Again he laughed, "Let me warn you Brian, we're not about to give up that easily!"

He left without saying a word.

I came back to the fire and sat down, "Well it looks like I may have lost a friend." Tara still seemed bothered, "Brian please doesn't go through with this tomorrow; I have a bad feeling you're going to get hurt really badly."

I rocked back and forth in the sand, "I can't go without facing them, all my time as being friends with them I've accepted their challenges, and this is no different from those."

I didn't seem to hear her, instead I was thinking still about the two mystery girls that were with Beraht and Scott. One of them looked familiar, I don't know how though.


	22. Tournament and Deception

June 18th, 2006

I went to bed in the sand with Tara still next to me, her arm wrapped around me. About two hours later when the moon was high I awoke and slowly lifted her arm from around me and stood up.

I went to grab a stick and when I found the tennis ball a voice came out of nowhere, "It's no use Brian; it's too late to practice now. I'm sure I haven't introduced myself…yet. My name is Brianna; don't be fooled by my appearance. I may look like I'm weak, but really underneath all this is a powerful person. You haven't seen anything yet!"

She disappeared into the woods. I took the tennis ball and smacked it yards ahead into the water.

I saw a head pop up from the water and return the tennis ball, "That's quite a swing you have there Brian." Axel said coming up beside me. "Don't let her get to you. It seems as though they're trying to get the better of you by tearing you down at something you love."

I thought about it, "It's not the game, its Beraht and Scott. The way they acted today made it seem like I just met them for the first time."

Axel continued listening, "This is something I haven't seen in a while, "So Beraht is your best friend?"

I quickly turned my head, "How did you know that?"

He laughed, "It was only a guess, but from the look you gave him earlier you looked like he was your enemy instead. The only advice I can give you on this Brian is that you let this happen whether, you win or lose, you must be careful not to hurt anyone in the process."

I nodded my head and tried putting that logic to use. I sat there until the sun started to come up.

Apparently the other team was already to go before our agreed time.

"Come on you slackers! We don't have all day!"

I laughed, "Actually we do, and we'll play as long as we need to!"

The first pitch was thrown out by Jason.

Scott swung and missed, "Don't think that'll happen again because it won't!"

The next pitch was thrown high and outside.

Scott had to duck, "Hey come now, don't be carried away by this!"

He eventually ended up striking out. We played by three outs. The bases included two palm trees and home plate being the warm spot where the sun was the hottest.

When I came up to bat that first inning I did my usual Jim Thome "point towards the fence" stance and got ready to swing. Beraht was pitching for them and knew where to pitch. Although he didn't know that I could hit left handed, so when he threw me one fast and outside I fully extended and drilled the ball in the middle sending it into the sky. Beraht watched it disappear into the sun.

"Ah shit you got lucky Brian and it won't happen again!"

"Yea right man you know me better than that!" I yelled rounding the bases.

The score was now 1-0. I was greeted at home plate by Tara who happened to bat next. Beraht was shaken up a bit but didn't make the same mistake to her. She struck out on three pitches. I knew Jason would reinsure our lead. He batted right hand, his hands choked up on the stick a ways.

"Jason, remember don't swing at anything low!" I pointed out.

He gave me thumbs up and looked back at Beraht. He went into his motion and threw one high. Fortunately that was exactly what Jason was planning and sat on it, this one going further then my home runs. The score was now 2-0. It remained this way through five innings.

"How many innings should we play?" Jason asked.

"We'll play as long as it takes for us to score!" Scott yelled. I sighed in the outfield knowing this would take a while.

Four hours later the sun started to become a distraction while batting. At this point I was a perfect 3/3 with two intentional walks. I walked to the plate and not seeing anything that the pitcher threw.

"Hey, let's delay the game a bit until the sun goes down!"

Scott and Beraht both yelled, "Oh come on, it's not that bad!"

Though they both struck out the last time they were up to bat. I dropped the bat and started to head back for the hut.

"Hey where are you going?" Scott asked.

"I told you, it's too bright to play right now, we'll pick up the game later!"

He growled underneath his breath and stomped off towards Beraht. I heard him say something to him but couldn't make it out. I heard Jason yell, "Look out Brian!"

I turned around walking back when something hit me on the head knocking me out. Jason happened to see this and ran out to me, "You bastards look what you did!"

They both laughed hysterically, "Now Jason, don't be so shrewd, that hurts when you call us that."

Jason leaped at out Scott knocking him onto the ground, "I'll make you wish you never existed!"

He took one big punch at him giving Scott a bloody nose. Scott didn't move for a second, his eyes shut.

When he came to he leaned up wiping his nose, "You're a dead man next time I see you!"

Beraht didn't say anything.

Soon I woke up, just in time to catch both of them walking off, "Scott get back here! If you think you can take out my friend you're wrong!"

He looked back at me with eyes of pure rage. "Don't get yourself involved in this Brian, this isn't your business! Just exactly as you told Jason!"

My mouth opened but nothing came out. I only looked at Jason, "How did he know that?"

Jason shrugged, "It's my fault this time Brian, we should've never challenged them in the first place."

I rubbed my head from the bruise given off by the coconut.

"Let's just worry about getting back alive."

Cree and Tara ran back long before our encounter took part.

"Well now Brian I hope you learned something from this!" Tara put a pack of ice on my head.

"Actually I did Tara, and we must be on the look out from now on. Jason's mouth got him in trouble and now Scott is out for revenge."

She shook her head in disbelief, "I'm sick of putting up with this, I want you to call them over here right now so we can deal this out!"

I knew I had no other choice so I got up and yelled, "Scott! We need to talk NOW!"

With in five minutes he and beraht came with Brianna and the other girl.

"This had better be good Brian; we were in the middle of our planning."

I was about to say they won when Tara broke in, "Scott please spare us, don't you realize you're hurting your friends!"

He smirked to himself, "Friends, what friends. The only people I consider to be friends are those that don't betray me!"

I looked up at him, "Scott you know as well as I do that I wouldn't do such a thing!" Again Scott smirked, "Oh bullshit Brian, if you hadn't called off the game we wouldn't be talking right now!"

I looked into his eyes, "You don't even know who I am anymore, and do you? The Scott I knew would never get so upset over a game and the same with you Beraht! You know better than to resort to violence!"

Scott glared over at Jason, "Some of us couldn't help that, now could us Jason?"

He looked back at Scott, "Don't start that again! You know it's going nowhere!"

I ended this discussion by saying, "Well Scott and Beraht you have a choice to make here, either you end this nonsense, or Jason and I will end our friendship with you."

Beraht couldn't help but lower his head, "Scott I think they're getting on to something here."

He looked disgustingly away, "Oh please you expect me to cherish our friendship over beating them and boasting about it?"

Beraht nodded his head, "Yes, I expect you to do that!"

At this time Scott had enough of everyone trying to convince him that this was going nowhere so he pulled out a gun.

"Scott what the fuck is you doing!" I yelled.

He took a step forward and raised the gun into the air and fired, "Now don't be so panicky, I expect you to cooperate with me. And if you don't there WILL be severe punishments."

Axel had heard the gun go off and came crawling to shore, "What the bloody hell was that?"

Scott looked over at him, "Oh look, he shall be the one we feast on tonight…if you're still alive that is."

In my mind I wanted to knock him over and beat him senseless. The other side of me told me that something would change. Then it occurred to me that we needed to distract them, even Beraht, though he hadn't done any harm yet.

Scott aimed the gun at me, "Well now looks like you're the one with the choice to make Brian. Either you bow down before me, or you can kiss gravity good bye because I'm about to blow you away."

I tried backing up, "Don't move!" he yelled. "If you cherish your life you will not move!"

If I could get the gun away from him I could change things, but I had to be cautious. "Scott what the hell is that!" I pointed out towards the ocean.

He turned his head for a short moment just in time for Cree to throw me Bud and for me to chuck it at Scott's head. As the coconut hit him the gun went off backwards piercing his ear. He was down on the ground and I rushed for the gun while Jason charged at Beraht knocking him down. Scott lay there in pain.

"Well Scott, I think you just made the worst decision of your life." I held the gun pointed at him. "Don't worry; I'm not going to waste any bullets on you."

Instead I held the gun up and fired all the bullets out then threw it back at Scott. He looked up at me with blood trickling down his cheek.

"I don't get it Brian, why? What did I do to deserve this?"

I looked over at Beraht who Jason still contained, "So Brian what should we do with them?"

I thought about it and took a few steps forward, "We aren't going to do anything to them, we're a foursome, and no one deserves to die."

I went over and helped Scott up, "Here take it easy, let's get you back to the hut and wrap that up."

He didn't reply, only a tear came down his face, "I know it hurts Scott." I hadn't noticed the cut above his eyebrow which some blood came out as well from.

The sun was about to set as we got Scott cleaned up.

"I don't know what exactly happened to you two."

Scott tried explaining what he remembered before I hit him with the coconut. "When we fell into the ocean, I don't remember hitting the water; instead all I saw was darkness. I tried seeing if Beraht was still alive but my vision was so messed up that I couldn't concentrate at all. I began to feel haughty and devious." He ended with, "I know I wasn't myself, I just couldn't say anything."

I let him sleep in my bed for the night so that he'd feel better about what he had almost done.


	23. The Note and Celebration

June 19th, 2006

When morning rolled around he and Beraht didn't bother waking us up, instead they took off without saying where they were going.

I found a note on my bed saying, "Dear Brian, since we have caused you so much trouble we decided it'd be best if we left the island. Don't bother trying to convince us otherwise. We know by now that you don't want anything to do with us…I left some supplies just outside the hut for you, take care." –Scott

I looked at the note knowing that we wouldn't see them again for a long time, or at least that's what I thought.

When I showed the note to Jason he didn't bother finishing it, "I'm still wondering why they acted to weird yesterday."

I tried explaining to him, "You know as well as I do why they did that stuff…they couldn't control themselves. It was as if something was controlling their bodies."

Jason thought about it, "What about the girls, they didn't even say much."

I nodded, "That's true, the one girl I know I recognized. The question is where have I seen her before?"

We ended the conversation with some breakfast outside.

Tara and Cree came out shortly, "Well it looks like they've disappeared!"

I continued looking at the note, "Yes it has, though for some reason I have a feeling they'll be back again. But it won't be for revenge."

They looked at me with a baffled look, "If it's not for revenge, then what is it?"

I looked up, "I don't know…I…don't…know."

The sun was high in the sky and we were working, but not on the hut. Instead we had come up with a plan to get off the island.

Tara came up beside me, "Brian, you do realize that we have nothing to communicate around with, right?"

I continued thinking when we heard a beeping noise coming from the bag that Scott had left. I went over and picked it up and soon I heard someone's voice.

"Hello can anyone hear me? Is there anybody there?" I tried answering back but there wasn't a way for me to talk into it."

I tossed the device aside in the sand, "Why would he leave us something that was no use to us?"

Jason picked it up and turned the dial around until the voice came in clearer.

"If you can hear me, wave your hands!"

He did as it told and waved his hands around.

"Good, now that you we have you on our radar I'll be asking you to wait until we can pin point your exact location. That is all."

I turned around to Jason, "Do you think Beraht and Scott already got back before we had? It sounded like the guy was somehow connected to them."

I crossed my arms and sighed.

The hut looked like brand new once we were done washing it. The girls had decorated around by putting flowers around the windows and door.

"The place looks great! Tonight we shall celebrate for the completion of it!" Everyone now had their own room. We still had one bathroom which we had to share but it wasn't too big of a concern. As we got washed up Tara looked at me and gave me a wink. "How about we have our own little celebration after yours?" I knew what she was saying and I replied yes.

For some reason though, I couldn't get my mind off the device from earlier. I tried playing around with it seeing if it did anything else, but no sound came out.

Finally Tara came out and took it out of my hands, "Brian don't worry about that right now, you should be celebrating!"

I tried to look happy but it wasn't much of a face.

"I'm sorry, I just feel like something is wrong right now."

She shook her head, "If you're worried that Scott and Beraht got off before us then it's no big deal. You just got to have faith Brian."

I smiled a bit and went about my chores.

By night fall we already had our fire going. Tara and Cree prepared the big meal, even Axel contributed to the feast.

"Don't mind if I join you guys do you?"

We all looked at each other, "No of course not, the party is about to begin!"

Tara brought out my iPod and hooked it up.

Nothing was stopping us from having the night of our lives. The feast consisted of lobster, crab legs, fish, a baby shark thanks to Axel, and pineapple juice. Cree had been working on that one all day.

As went about eating Tara jumped up and shouted, "Let's dance!"

Even Jason got in on that which I laughed at. I wasn't too bad myself for learning quickly. Tara helped me out a bit by placing my hands on her hips and telling me to shake my body fast and furious.


	24. Pleasure and A new Guest

June 20th, 2006

By the time we were done the sun was about to come up.

"Oh man that was something." I said exhausted, "I think I'll turn in for the day." Tara followed me inside, "Ahem aren't you forgetting something Brian?"

I turned around and looked at her, "Oh yes where's Jason and Cree?"

She laughed. "Don't worry about them; they're off having their own little fun. Now it's our turn."

She pulled me into her room and closed the door gently, "Do you prefer to look now or wait for me to get undone?"

I stood there not saying a word. She raised her eyebrow and slowly slid her strap off her shoulder.

My hands began to clam up but I didn't do anything. She took my hand and led me to the bed.

"You know Brian you are a very tense person, we need to undo that."

I gave off a fake laugh, "You're absolutely right!"

Before I could finish she had her hands wrapped around my chest. I tried turning around but she held her grip on me.

"I thought you were a shy person Brian."

I tried not acting like it, "What are you talking about, I can be social…just not around other people."

She smirked and turned me around. I saw that her right strap had fallen all the way down exposing her right breast.

"Do you like what you see?" I slowly nodded my head.

"If you want we can double that."

I gritted my teeth knowing that something would go wrong soon. As she undid her other strap I couldn't feel my face anymore from my teeth gritting.

She led my hand onto her chest, "Brian you look like you've never done this sort of thing before. Is there something wrong?"

I took in a big breath trying not to ruin the moment, "No I'll be alright."

She took my hand, "If you want to stop just let me know and we can finish up some other time."

I rubbed my nose, "No let's continue."

She gave me a kiss of reinsurance. At first I was on top of her but I slowly made my way underneath her so she was on top now.

Slowly I brought her down onto me, "Have I ever told you what a beautiful girl you are Tara?"

She giggled to herself, "No Brian, I don't believe you have."

Just as I was about to slip off her shorts Jason burst into the room, "Brian you have to come take a look at this!"

I sat up with Tara behind me, "Jason what's wrong? This had better be good."

His face looked paler then normal, "Trust me, this is worth looking at."

I put my shirt back on and walked outside where Jason and Cree stood. I held my breath in hesitation and looked at Jason.

The time read 5:56am and we had officially had our first encounter with tragedy. Apparently someone or something had come onto shore and dismantled Axel leaving his head by the fire. I tried covering my nose from the stench given off but it only seemed to leak through my nose.

"Brian, who or what would've done this?" I tried not thinking about it and continued looking at the head. I noticed that the bigger eye had been completely ripped out.

I told Jason we'd have to discard the head back into the ocean.

"Don't be looking at me Brian! I know what I'm talking about when I say this is out of the question!"

I tried to remain calm at the moment, "I realize that this is more of an inconvenience to me then it is to you, but he was still a friend to both of us. He even took out of his time everyday just to get food for us and keep us alive!"

I found a tear slowly making its way down my face. "We have to carry out this task before it becomes impossible."

He looked at me with disgust, "Don't expect me touch it." It didn't take long for me to lose my cool.

"Jason you must realize that even though it's disgusting that we too are in the same condition as he was. We haven't been able to bathe since we got here. How do you think it'll affect you? It won't at the slightest!"

I could sense a lot of anger building up in him, "See there you go again trying to make things sound like they aren't so bad!"

I started laughing back and forth, "Do you realize that you could've been the one dismantled! How many times must I tell you that you're one of the luckiest people on this island! You have shelter, food, sunlight. Most people only dream about this!"

He held back his next thought and went back into the hut.

Tara and Cree came up to me, "We'll help make sure you get that thing thrown away."

I almost agreed with them when I had a better idea.

That afternoon I took the head and rinsed it off in the ocean, a lot of the blood was already dry so I wouldn't have to worry about any leaks. I made a little shelf next to my bed and put the head on it. Jason hadn't spoken to me since earlier in the morning. He was off in the water kicking waves around. I had asked him if he wanted some lunch, but he wasn't hungry or in the mood to eat.

Its amazing how someone's attitude can go from brighter than a Christmas tree to down into the sewers. I knew something was bothering Jason and I needed to find out soon.

Throughout the day I found myself yawning over and over on several occasions. True it had been a long day, up to this point we have all been up for nearly thirty two straight hours, and it was only 3:45 in the afternoon. I tried asking Jason if he would like to share something with me but he only shrugged and walked off.

That night was no different from any other we had gone through. I didn't bother asking who would get the food. When the sun began to set I went out into deep water hoping to find something that might take Jason's mind off of this morning. As I continue looking around my mind told me that I had never seen him so down before. As I came back down I saw a pack of lobsters slowly crawling around me.

"Aw shit, this is not good!" My spear would finally come in handy and at once I put it against the floor of the ocean and jumped over the circle that had formed around me. Looking back I saw them heading for me. One of them extended their pincher claw hoping to get a piece of me. The one I didn't realize was crawling right onto my big toe. It was too late. Blood began pouring out of my toe. In the water it didn't hurt but by the time I was up onto shore and running through the sand as it stung.

I yelled for Tara to get something soft and dark colored. She didn't bother asking why. She came back with a handkerchief and wrapped around my toe. I could feel my heart right against my chest beating faster then a cheetah. When I calmed down I figured that food would wait and we would make the best of it. Jason however had different thoughts.

"So Brian you thought you'd be the hero again, eh?" He was the only one laughing when he saw what I did to my toe. "Looks like you aren't so heroic after all, instead you're a pussy."

The rest of us looked at him wondering what had been going on. I tried putting my hand on the last several events that really made an impact on us starting when Scott and Beraht made an unexpected visit to early this morning.

Jason continued on walking around me in a circle, "I wonder what it takes to make you realize that you aren't the only guy on this island. I know I'm not as strong as you. You can at least let me offer my assistance to you!"

I looked over at my spear which was on the floor of the hut.

"I see you still need your spear; well I think I may have found another purpose for it."

Cree stopped him, "Jason what's got into you! You've been acting like such a bighead since you got here. Why are you doing this to us?"

"What do you mean by us? Don't you mean yourself?" Before he said anything else I quickly thought of the time when he was standing outside the hut just after I had talked to Tara about not letting her into me.

"Jason, this isn't a competition. We're only doing this so that you won't have to work so hard. Do you understand?"

He gave off another phony laugh, "Don't you see what happens when you're put in charge? It only makes things worse! If you don't want anything…bad to happen I would suggest you let me take over."

I closed my eyes and began laughing in my usual voice, "A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You honestly think you can get over me to be leader. Why didn't you say anything before? I would've let you take over, I need the rest!"

He went and grabbed the spear, "If you cherish your life you will shut it right now! Bow down before me!"

I couldn't help but laugh, "You expect me to worship someone who's just as weak as everyone else around here?"

He took a step closer holding the point of it right to my head, "Brian I've put up with you being in charge here, now it's my turn!"

Just as he started to come back a boomerang flew by knocking the spear out of his hands.

We all looked over at a mysterious figure standing by the shoreline.

"My, Jason I thought you had matured. As for you Brian, I'm impressed at how brave you've been risking your life in times like these!"

I slowly got up and walked over to the figure, "What do you want with us?"

He tilted his head, "Why Brian, don't you know who I am?"

I looked over at Jason who had his arms crossed. I tried being sarcastic about it, "Well I don't seem to recognize your voice but if you sing then I could fake a couple of bars!"

"Brian honestly can't you take something like this seriously?" Tara asked.

Apparently I hadn't counted on him having powers. He took one swing of his hand and blew me back. A gust of wind came out us taking out half the hut.

"Sarcasm will you get you nowhere, I thought that was your main turn off. Am I right Mr. Dempsey?"

I looked up at the half destroyed hut, "Aw shit, I hope you're going to fix that!"

He looked over at it and said, "Restore-o, Build-us!" The hut was back to normal. "I was once your friend Brian, what ever happened to us?"

I rubbed my face and eyes trying to come up with a good guess.

"I'm not in the mood to fuck around right now, if you please just tell me who you are then we can cut to the chase!"

He cleared his throat, "Fine then, I am Lord Kicks-a lot-of-ass!"

Tara and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, "Are you fucking kidding me? You hold powers and yet your name is something stupid! It sounds like a kid's name!"

He said underneath his breath with his teeth clenched, "They always laugh at that, so embarrassing!"

Clenching both his fists he came up to us, "I have a proposition for you."

I sat up from laughing, my gut still hurting. "Oh sure what would that be? That we let you live here so that you can hide from a cowardly army!" He didn't speak.

I sat up and looked at him, "You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head, "I'm afraid not Brian, I am at war right now. I just happened to land onto your island and now I must ask of your hospitality for a while."

I adjusted my hat backwards, "When do you expect that they'll find you?"

"It's only a matter of time before they locate here. We must assemble an army as soon as possible! And don't laugh, I am ashamed to say I never had one, or was in charge."

I looked over at Jason and thought of a plan, "Hey Jay, come here a second, I'd like to speak to you alone."

The Lord seemed confused, but I signaled to him I'd be right back.

"Now Jason, I realize back there just happened to be a fluke. I think that if we can get you in charge of this then you'll forget about everything that had gone wrong between us."

It looked as though he was buying into it. "So what you're saying is that if I take over as commander that you will stop acting like you're in charge?"

I nodded my head, "And I will never make you go get food for us again.

He looked down at my toe, "It's a deal, and we're the new partners in crime!"

We headed back to the group where the Lord was throwing cards into a hat on the ground.

"Excuse me your highness, I've talked to my partner and we agreed that it'd be best if he was in charge of this operation. How does that sound?"

"Ok, fine! Where is this army you speak of?"

I looked over to Jason, "Well, as of right now we have the four of us, and I think I can get four more who will come in handy!"

We ended the discussion by assigning posts to all of us, Jason's happened to be watching over the island. (Yes of course it's still my island! I'm just taking a break at the moment)

My cell phone hadn't been working since I arrived, but that night I had a reason to believe that I could contact who I needed. As the phone started ringing I held my breath hoping for an answer.

Finally someone said, "Yes Brian, we're ready to help you."

I smiled and closed the phone, "We're about to kick some serious hard core ass!"

The Lord offered to get us food each day that he was in here and in return he could sleep in the hut.

It's not that we didn't want him helping; it was just his powers that would cause us trouble during the day. So I asked him not to use them until night when we were sleeping. We told him to go somewhere on the other side of the island.

Right now we just called him "The Lord of Stupidity" when he wasn't around. Though, when he was I would just yell out, "Lord" even though he didn't act like one.

During dinner I happened to ask, "So what brought you to this island in particular?" I also noticed that he had no mouth to chew the food. He sat there trying to figure out how to eat the food.

"Well um Brian, it was really interesting, you see, when I came down from Lacour, I had heard rumors from the people of my planet that your planet (Earth) was the strongest in the galaxy. I didn't want to use adults as you would say. It would be a terrible loss of energy so I narrowed down my search to people of your age and the results for the strongest came up from this island. Doesn't that sound fascinating?"

I wiped away some drool from off my mouth, "What! Oh yes that's really…fascinating, so how come you didn't just get some of your own people to fight for you?"

He finally got fed up with the piece of chicken and threw it into the ocean, "Curse this food! How's a Lord supposed to eat anything that has skin on it! Back to your question, the highest IQ of anyone on my planet was of course, me."

I looked in confusion, "How high was it?"

He took out a pill from a compartment in his cape, "Well it's a requirement that we have yearly IQ tests, the last one said I was around 50."

As I sat there eating I nearly choked on the chicken bone, "I don't know how much help we'll be to someone of your…intelligence."

He smiled proudly, "I know, it makes me feel good to have as you would say, people who are stupider then you on your side! That's why I'm glad to be a Lacourian!"

I tried to not laugh. "I think you'll find us to be great help…"

He smiled again and threw the pill into his (suction hole) "Wow that sure was filling, I think I'm turning in now. I got to be up early for training in the morning."

I sat there and watched him go into the hut and managed to knock his head against the top of the roof, "Blast this piece of contraption! How's a guy supposed to move around in these parts! As he got through the door he slammed it shut knocking it off its hinges. I knew he didn't mean to do it but it's one of those things that you don't worry about.

"Sorry about the door! I'll fix it in the morning!"

"Well Brian I hope you know what you're doing!" Cree complained.

"Don't worry, reinforcements are on the way."

She looked in confusion, "And, who exactly would that be." I shook my head, "You'll see it's a surprise."

Jason signaled for me to come over. I cleared my throat and went over.

"Brian, please tell me you didn't get Scott and Beraht to be the back-up!"

Again I cleared my throat, "Jason they are the only ones besides Lord Goofs-a lot who knows where we even are. We'll be lucky if they show up on time even."

He sighed and started to head back, "I hope you're right about that Brian, otherwise you'll wish you had chosen someone better."

I glared at him, "Jason must I remind you that you are in charge, you can at least thank me for me telling you who I got! Also you can try at least finding anyone else in this god forsaken island."

He lowered his head, "I know; I'm just a bit scared that's all."

I put my arm around him, "Don't worry, I am too."


	25. Appearances are Deceiving and Stupid

June 21st, 2006

I would've slept longer if it hadn't been for "The Lord" out there swinging his imaginary sword around and making noises. I couldn't even keep my thoughts straight.

"Die you evil Lacourian scum! You dare to defy me! The great Lord Kick-a lot-of-ass? Ha-ha-ha, now bow down before your mighty ruler before I make you eat my…uh…before…you eat…well you get the point!"

I grunted a bit and leaned over onto my side trying to ignore his stupid ness but it was too strong to bear.

"Hey oh mighty one, I realize you have training to do. Could you please do it somewhere else on the island? I'm sure you could get a lot of use out of the animals here." He raised his head even higher, "You mean there are…other things here too?" Quickly I answered, "Oh yes, but try not to disturb them. If you sneak up on them you may be able to get something to eat, try poking them a couple of times."

I headed back into the hut and saw him huffing and puffing towards the other side. I had expected him to go through the forest making it easier, but instead he ran on the outside part.

"Idiot" I said underneath my breath.

Tara also couldn't sleep and came into my room.

"Brian, are you sure it's a good idea having him on our island? I don't want to get involved in something again that isn't our problem or fault."

"We have no choice, besides if he says he's the smartest one on the planet then how hard could an army be to fight?"

I smiled at her and gave her a kiss, "For right now go back to sleep and we'll talk later. Believe me; it's going to be alright."

By the time everyone else had got in up I had breakfast ready. I decided to mix up what we had by including eggs from real seagulls. (Hey we got to survive some how)

"Brian I hope this isn't from real seagulls, I get queasy from eggs." Cree said.

I took the egg off her plate and threw it at Jason, "There, problem's over!"

She gave me a sarcastic face and continued eating.

Jason wiped the egg off his face, "Gee Brian, you took it better than I thought…"

I looked up at him, "Did you say something Jay?"

He looked at up me, "Oh nothing."

I shrugged and continued eating my egg.

Later on in the day Jason and I went looking for some more fire wood since we were running low.

"Brian, do you think that Scott will be here soon?"

As I looked around in the bushes I replied slowly, "Of course he will be, and if he didn't come…well I would answer that later."

We continued walking along trying to find some wood, but with not a lot of luck.

Finally we got to a clearing in the middle of the forest where some light was coming in.

"I think we should call it a day." I said sitting down exhausted.

Jason came up beside me, "Just a little bit longer, I have a feeling our searching will soon pay off."

I looked up at him, "What are you talking about; we've been looking for four hours now!"

He shook his head, "My gut is telling me that if we continue our search will pay off."

I sighed and got back up following through the forest to the other side. When we walked out into the sun we saw it reflecting off of some old wooden pieces.

"Jason we hit the mother load! This is going to last us forever!"

As we stood there looking at the pieces the Lord could be seen in the background being chased by a whole bunch of seagulls while saying, "Curse you rats with wings! When my army arrives here I'll make sure you never sleep comfortably again!"

One of the seagulls was fully loaded and dropped a stink bomb on his head.

"Oh good lord what is that smell? I swear if I had something to hit you with you can bet you'll be suffering a long and cruel death!"

He ran off into the distance leaving Jason and I to get the wood. We looked each other and shrugged picking up the pieces one by one.

By the time we got back the sun was starting to set so it'd be a perfect time to start up a fire. It has become more of a routine to do this everyday rather then once in a while. Regardless of the temperature being in the 90s everyday it's get somewhat colder when the sun goes down. No one has yet to complain of being sick and at the least an upset stomach. I feel both good and bad about this. For one thing we haven't been exposed to any serious bacteria that could harm us. However on the other hand I fear that something worse will happen soon, I don't know when…but something will.


	26. Illness, Despute, and Lucia

June 22nd, 2006

I hadn't noticed I fell asleep with my iPod still on me. By the time I had woken up the battery was dead, so I'd have to get Tara to let me use her re-charger on it. That morning seemed very dry and dreary. Everyone was outside looking like death had rolled over them without so much as a "oh I'm sorry" or "let me help you up". It wasn't a very pretty sight. Even I was still a bit drowsy from last night.

"So who's going to volunteer to get some food before I do it myself…?"

Nobody moved as I said this, "Brian please, everyone is too drained to get food. You seem like you're doing alright, you get it!"

I grunted to myself and grabbed my spear heading out for the water thinking to myself this is such bullshit, I know they're faking it…

Though as I looked back Jason, again, was looking like a ghost past right through him. I think he knew about that, but I figured I'd tell him when I got back. The water seemed unusually cold today. Usually it was up around ninety degrees but if felt around sixty. With Axel no longer around to get us food surely we would struggle for the next few weeks until we got it resolved. Suddenly, though, my mind flashed back to when Jason almost killed Axel's brother. The thought of Jack not saying a thing after Axel saved him seemed quite odd. Somehow in the back of my head I knew that Jack wouldn't do such a thing. Something was causing trouble on the island, and I had to find out soon.

Finally I made it into the water after that long though ran through my head. For the first few seconds the water shocked my feet from the temperature difference on the land. Soon it didn't affect me and I was looking around for something worth holding onto. I had thought about asking the Lord to come help me out.

He seemed to be doing alright; the weather didn't affect his body at all. I had told him to look after the others incase the time arrived for battle.

The one good quality of him that stuck out was that he NEVER argued. Even if you were to tell him to go and wrestle a shark he wouldn't object. His strength would come in handy.

However we never figured out if he was a human or robot. We never saw him take off the suit either. I just guessed he did it while we were sleeping. I finally got sick of all these thoughts and headed back towards the hut.

"Hey Lord, you want to do me a favor and take my place of getting food here?"

"Absolutely, it would be an honor oh mighty one! You shall not be disappointed with what I get."

I watched him run off to the water. Something I couldn't figure out was the way he ran. It wasn't like "long paces" or "quick and tiny steps". Instead it looked like his knees were touching his stomach each time he took a step.

When I did track I never ran like that, I was always calm and collected. As I thought about it laughed for a second and thought, "He and I should have a race later…that is if everyone is feeling better."

My attention switched over to Tara as she cried, "Brian, how come you're the only one out of us that's not sick?"

Jason and Cree tried looking up at me when I responded, "Your guess is as good as mine, and it would be a shame to have all of us feeling ill. That way no one would be able to take care of us. However, since bozo arrived he's seemed to be doing great so far."

I would've laughed if I hadn't seen what he was trying to do.

"What hell are you doing? Why aren't you getting us food!" I yelled.

He looked up at me clenching his fists, "These slimy blue and purple like creatures seem to possess the same powers as me!"

Around him was a pack of jellyfish making fun of his costume.

"Now you know how I feel!"

They seemed to be mocking him in a way. I wondered why he didn't just zap them back. Then I realized he was, but they were absorbing it.

"How about instead of you trying to kill them just ignore them and walk away."

"If I did that then everyone would think I was a coward instead of a Lord!" he whimpered back.

I sighed and got up for a second looking down at my group then back at him, "Everyone I need you to stay put while I go help him."

Cree said faintly, "Brian, there's something you need to know about…him."

I looked at her, "What is it Cree, what did you see?"

Before she could answer she had fallen onto her side, "Later Brian I will tell you what I saw."

I couldn't help but watch her lay there like a slug. I scratched my head instead and went back off to the Lord.

"Why don't you try getting something else instead of jelly fish, those really aren't edible anyways." I pointed to some baby tiger sharks swimming around after a helpless fish.

"Oh my good lord; look at that little creature! What is that thing on his back!"

"Well um, it's a fin. Fish use it to swim faster."

"Wow what amazing and exotic creatures you have on this planet of yours."

I thought about what Cree said back there and walked up to the Lord…well beside him at least. He was pretty tall for being clumsy a lot.

"Hey Lord, I don't know how to ask this, but I talked to Cree back there and she said there's something that I should know about you."

He looked at me confusingly, "What do you mean Brian? Do you think I'm an enemy?"

"Oh no it has anything to do with that! I tried asking her what she saw but she's still too weak to say anything. Would you like to tell me any secrets you have?"

I could tell he was getting frustrated from both the questions I was asking him and the jellyfish that kept stinging his legs.

"Alright Brian you really want to know why I'm acting like this?"

"Acting, it doesn't seem like you are, although you never really seem…down to this island like."

"Fine here's here the truth, I'm not really a guy. I thought it wouldn't have to come down to me telling you that. If you're wondering how my voice is so deep it's because I can enhance it with a speaker phone. My real name is Sophia. Though, I really am a lord, just not a very good one."

I shrugged, "That's all I wanted to know. Now you know your secret is safe with us."

She gave out a breath of relief, "I was always afraid that you wouldn't understand if you found out…I know that compared to you I'm relatively stupid. I just don't like people ordering me around."

I went back and got my spear for her, "Here use this, it'll help you become adapted to our island."

She took it and played around with it, "What do I do with it?"

"Here look, you see that shark out there?" I pointed about ten feet from us.

"Yes, do you want me to throw this at it?"

I nodded my head, "Don't be afraid, we must have food in order to stay alive."

"Really I thought you people here could stay alive as long as us. We can go years without eating anything or taking any pills. Compared to you we are somewhat more advanced in the way we live."

I tried paying attention but she went into another of her long speeches. I waved my hand in front of her face to see if she was still even looking at me.

Slowly I backed up but didn't see a jellyfish right there…"If you dare sting me I'm going to wrap your tentacles around that funny head of yours!"

"Aye man, I don't resort to violence like that!"

Suga Daddy came floating around me.

"Really well put those long things of your to your side! You could poke someone's eye out!"

"Sorry about your stupid friend over there, we detected a strong stupid force in the area and tracked it down to her."

"How did you know she was a girl before you started stinging her?"

He thought about for a moment, "Well it's kind of hard to explain, but to be short our tentacles change colors depending on what's around us. It's like a stop light. If we detect something dangerous they'll be red. If everything is ok then it'll be green, and so on. However, with your friend over there they changed…orange."

I looked over at the Lord, "Do you think he'll get out alive?"

"Oh yea man, don't give it another thought. Well I must be off, I'll catch you later man!"

I faintly waved and ran out of the water while the Lord still rambled on.

"Brian, can we PLEASE eat now!" Jason complained.

"It's not looking good; she seems to have trouble adjusting to our life style."

"Oh that's perfect, now we're going to starve!"

I realized that they were getting impatient with everything that's been going on today.

"Hey I have an idea, why don't you guys go get back into bed and I'll bring the food when it's ready."

Cree was the only who went, Jason and Tara didn't seem thrilled about the idea.

"Brian, quit trying to make things better!" Jason yelled.

"Jason, if you must raise your voice do it somewhere else, I'm trying my hardest to get you guys back to normal. Not unless you want to get your food then I'd suggest you shut up and go back to bed!"

He gave me his famous "Brian you're such a douche" look.

I just shrugged back and pointed towards the hut signaling him back to bed. At last he budged out of the sand where he had left an imprint and waddled back to his bed. I wish there was a way to knock him out sooner.

As he headed him he couldn't help but say, "When this is over Brian you and I am going to have a nice long talk."

Sophia could be heard still talking in the water.

"Hey Lord, you know you can start getting food now."

"No thanks, I was just telling Brian over here that…say…how did you get over there so quickly?"

I wanted to pounce on her because of her incompetence but that wouldn't be solving our problem. "Hey Sophia, I beg of you please get some food so your soldiers will be healthy again."

"Why what's wrong with them, they looked alright to me."

Again I sighed, "You must understand, we don't always stay in good health. Please kill a shark or something else edible."

"If you want Brian I you can have some food pills. I have one representing its own country. The Italian one has spaghetti and ravioli. The American one is cheeseburgers and hot dogs. The…"

"Damn it just do something!" I yelled impatiently.

"Alright, my you people of lower evolution sure can lose your tempers a lot easier then us."

I turned my back and muttered, "Yea try being stuck on this island for a month you bastard then we'll see whose laughing…"

"Don't worry Brian, like I said before you shall not be disappointed by what I get. And if you are I'll stay here and get food for you forever!"

I immediately turned around, "Oh really, shall we make a little deal then?"

"Why what do you have in mind? It's not like I'm going to be a slave or servant!"

"Oh no of course not, it's just that we could really use some help around here getting used to the island and all. And I know someone of your…intelligence would serve as such that!"

She tilted her head slightly, "You better not be bluffing when you say that. I've seen a lot of men go back on their word. If you're another one you might as well forget it, I'm not that stupid. Also by the way, when I say I had fifty IQ the equivalent to that in earth points would be nearly two hundred fifty. I just choose not to show that."

I could feel a laugh making its way up my stomach and through my throat. "Oh my god is you serious? You're going to make my gut burst! You want me to believe that you're the smartest person in the world? After everything I've seen you do since you got here have been nothing but stupidity!"

"I'm sorry to inconvenience you Brian, but I must say that on my behalf that I have handled it rather well since I arrived. I know that I haven't made the best impression with some of my…language. That doesn't mean you must think differently of me. I've heard you say words that would have you thrown in jail!"

"A-ha-ha-ha-ha, well you know what? Fuck you, if you think I'm going to crouch down to your level of civilization you have another thing coming at you!"

"Oh man you're going to hell for that one! If you say one more thing like that I'll have no choice but you use my powers on you!"

I took a step towards her, "I dare you! No wait I triple dog dare you! Let's just see how brave you really are! Everyone thinks I'm doing too good of a job on this heroic shit! You can take over for me now!"

She didn't intend on me continuing on so instead she took in a deep breath then blasted me to the other side of the island.

As I went flying I could hear Jason yelling, "Take that bitch! You got what you finally deserved!"

I landed with a back shattering crunch on the sand. "God damn it! My back, I think it's broken!"

No one else was around me so I had to lay there in pain waiting for someone to come.

Tara heard Jason yelling and hobbled over to him, "Jason what were you just laughing at?"

"Oh man you should've seen what the Lord just did to Brian! She blew him nearly off the Island!"

"She did what! Where is she?"

Jason pointed over in the water.

Tara tried walking over to her but fell short, "Hey you son of a bitch! Why did you do that? What did he ever do to you?"

"He took the name of my planet in vein. He deserved to be punished."

"That's no reason to use violence, if he was here right now I'd have him kick your funny ass back to whatever the hell that planet is that you're from!"

"I know it may have been harsh but you must realize that that is what we do to others who commit such a crime."

"Well you know what? We aren't on your planet! You are on our turf, and as punishment for you you'd better find him and bring him back here if you still want your precious army!"

Sophia took in a big gulp, "Fine, give me a couple of hours. I shall leave you food before I go. In the meantime Jason will be in charge while I'm gone."

Jason smirked to himself with an evil force inside of him.

"Don't worry…Lord! You can guarantee I'll hold down the place while you're gone!"

Tara looked at him then back at Sophia, "Why are you laughing like that Jason. I have a feeling there's something going on here that I should be informed of. One of you better say something soon or else I'll have no choice but to go out and look for Brian myself!"

Although they continued laughing that didn't stop Tara from going after her beloved boyfriend, Brian. Nothing seemed to stop her even though her health quite wasn't up to par yet. She had a few run-ins with the wildlife but she kept making her move, soon to be happy…and nearly destroyed. The question she asked herself now was what would become of Jason and Sophia.

When my eyes opened the moon was reflecting off of my white t-shirt. It had a little neon effect that made my shirt look all lime like. The only thing that made sense at the moment was that my back was in excruciating pain. I knew I had problems before with it when I went to bed. All it needed was a good crack and I wouldn't be as stiff. However this time that didn't seem to be real effective. I tried leaning over onto my stomach without too much movement. At first I felt nothing but a minor crick then I heard something rip. My back was arched to see if it was still alright. When I stood up nothing seemed to be out of place.

As I stood on my tip toes cracking my back I noticed a bag lying near the edge of the water. I made my way over to the water still limping a bit but when I looked in to see what was there I was both breath taken and surprised.

The note read, "This is my baby, Lucia, I can't afford to take care of her so I hope whoever receives this will look after her. I sent some food and money incase it becomes a problem. She was my beloved child, I beg of you to look after her. I'm sure her powers will come in handy." –Lucia's Mother

I picked up the child looking at her, her neon and black eyes looking at me in curiosity. She looked like a human, but her body was shaped differently, she had tentacle like arms and bent legs. I tried not looking at them too much but since she was little she wouldn't mind. As I looked at her I heard a voice ringing through the trees. I quickly took the bag and the baby and headed off behind a rock by the water.

Tara poked her head through one of the trees and looked around. "Brian where are you! If you're ok please come out, it's Tara!"

I poked my head up above the rock, "Tara is that really you?"

"Brian! You're alright, when Jason told me what happened I was ready to kill him!"

"Yes I may have to take some kind of similar action when we get back."

"We, is someone else here? You mean us right?"

I looked at her, "Tara…we have another person on our island now." I showed her the baby and she was breath taken as well.

"Brian, where did you find her?"

"After I woke up from the blow I took earlier I heard a noise coming from the water. And sure enough there she was, asleep in the bag. She hasn't made a noise since I started holding her."

We both looked at her wondering what we should do.

"Well Tara I think we should seriously talk about this when we get back. I think…" I didn't finish the sentence because I was afraid of what she would say. "Let's just make our way back then we'll talk."

She nodded her head but she kept looking at Lucia. I couldn't tell if Tara was happy or confused about the whole idea of looking after a baby, which made me get even more pressure when Cree and Jason would see her. The moon still glowed bright above us not showing any signs of morning yet.

"Brian, what do you think we should do with her?" Tara asked impatiently.

I knew she wanted an answer but I had to really give it consideration before making any hasty movements. I mean we were already defending for ourselves. The last thing we'd need was for a baby's life to be put in danger as well.

"Tara, I told you we'll talk about this when we get back. I have a lot on my mind as it is."

"Oh yeah, and what exactly would that be?" She looked at me with a look of frustration and anger. "What makes everything you do so important?"

"Please don't start that with me right now. I'm only doing what anyone else would do. I thought I'd never have to say this, but I'm letting you guys make your own decisions. You don't see me telling you what's good or bad to do. Don't put more pressure onto me, especially at this time!"

"I know Brian…I guess I'm sorry in a way. Being here has been rough for all of us. You however seem to be adapting quite well."

"Like I said let's not talk about it right now, let's just enjoy our company together…I don't know that this is the time to ask, but would you like to finish what we started doing the other day?"

She looked at me with an emotionless face, "Brian…I would really love to, but like you said let's concentrate on getting back and figuring out what to do with her then we'll worry about ourselves."


	27. Apology, The Storm, and Deku

June 23rd, 2006

Since we didn't arrive back at the hut by morning we had to sleep in the sand. Lucia didn't seem to mind at all since she was still asleep. I can't imagine though what she'll be like when she wakes up.

I woke up with sand on the side of my face where I had been drooling.

"Brian please learns to control that! I suggest you try sleeping with your mouth shut!"

"If you haven't noticed Tara it's a habit, and those are hard to break!"

"If you dare do that on me I'll kill you and never forgive you!"

I rolled my eyes and continued on. We had got in rid of the bag that Lucia was in and had to hold her until we got back. Then I planned for Jason and me to build her a crib of some sort in Tara's room. She agreed to have her there.

"Brian how come each time I hold her she seems upset even though she's still asleep?"

"I'm not sure, for some people it's easy to hold a baby without disturbing them. For others it takes a little more."

"Do you have a lot of experience? Did you ever baby-sit or watch kids for a period of time?"

I shrugged and continued walking not answering her question. I knew I didn't have a good understanding of babies, or children for that matter. You have to speak their language to get through to them. It's one of those things that a lot of people don't realize until the kids are screaming and shouting for something that they want.

As we continued on I looked at Lucia then at Tara. Even though there was a three year gap between us I would eventually have to ask her if she ever wanted kids. Right now though wasn't the time. However like I was saying, ever since she got here there's been that strong connection of both love and concern, the formula seen in a lot of marriages. Plus she looked like she could get you to talk in any kind of situation.

When we got back Jason was sitting out by the fire, "Hey Brian it looks like we're back to normal now. Cree's inside getting some…what is that you have there?"

I walked up to him, "Jason, I need your help building a crib. It seems as though she's homeless according to this note I found by her."

I handed him Lucia, "Hey come now Brian you know I'm not good with kids!"

"Well neither am I but I've made it this far haven't I?"

He looked at me and gave a long sigh holding her in his arms. "She's not sleeping in our room you do know that…right?"

"What oh hell no, she would keep us up all night! The girls will have her in their room since they know a lot more about kids then we do."

Cree came out and stopped in her track, "So Brian it looks like we have some work to do with her, now don't we?"

"What are you talking about by we, you and Tara are taking care of her. Don't be pointing figures at me when I have no idea what to do other than hold her."

Cree just made a face at me and continued down towards the water.

"Brian, how big do we want this crib to be?" Jason asked still holding her.

"I'm not sure; I'm not exactly into dimensions and math. We'll just have to take a stab at how long it should be then going from there."  
"May I at least put her down then? My arms are starting to feel the pressure."

"Here I'll take her; you just get in there and start getting some pieces of wood for us to work with."

He handed me Lucia and headed inside into the girls room while I sat there on the stairs holding her. I tended to talk to her when no one else was around because it seemed like she was the only one that I could talk to without making fun of me.

"Hey Brian what exactly will she eat? I'm surprised she's made it this far and hasn't complained yet of being hungry."

I thought about it for a second and murmured, "Well I'm sure she can have the same stuff we eat even though it's not really a main course meal. We don't really have a choice though."

Jason came out looking like we had no wood left, "Brian, please tell me there's some more wood around this island."

"Dude remembers we found a whole shit load the other day on the other side of the island. Hey Tara look after her while we go back and get something for her to sleep in."

"Wait Brian what do you expect me to do with her?"

"Tara this isn't that complicated, do motherly things to her. Play with her and make funny faces. I don't know what else she likes to do."

"Oh yes sure leave me with the "mother" stuff!"

"Fine, Jason you stay here with the baby and Cree. Tara and I will be back later."

He looked at me and complained, "Brian if she knows what she's doing with the baby then I'm lost as hell! Why don't I go to, then you'll have more wood to carry back!"

While the two of them argued out over who should stay I went inside and asked Cree politely to watch over Lucia.

"Gee Brian since when have I become a part of your plan?" She laughed and replied, "Alright anything for you, but you owe me big times!"

"Alright anything you want, just save it for later."

"Hold on, what happened to Sophia?" She asked.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure. She's probably off training. If we see her we'll tell her of what's going on."

If I had known where Sophia really was then I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making a crib. We found her off on the edge of the water on a rock.

"Hey Lord, are you coming with us?"

"What's the big adventure of the day?" She said with sarcasm.

"Well since that baby arrived on the island we're going off to collect some wood and make into a crib for her."

Sophia immediately raised her head, "Did you happen to find this baby on the other side of the island in a bag?"

"Yes how did you know that?"

She hesitated for a second and replied, "Oh…nothing, let's go get that wood."

"Wait…seriously how did you where I found her?"

"It was just a guess, no big deal right? Now come on we don't have all day you know."

As the day dragged on Sophia was afraid to let her secret out that she was the one who left Lucia on the island unknowingly that she would end up here. Even after they got the fire and came back she never mentioned her daughter's name again. Brian kept his word to Cree in returning the favor, but it may have been too much for just being friends.

After dinner, there wasn't much conversation taking place between anyone. Even Jason and Cree weren't chatting like they normally did. I can't imagine what they could talk about in such a short period of time. I know it seems far for us since they've been here only for a couple of weeks. Tara and I however are a different story. Little did I know what mischief I'd be getting myself into the next time we were alone.

Sophia was off sitting by the edge of the water pretending like nothing was wrong. She still gave her same answer from before about it just being a guess. I wasn't going to keep asking her but I wanted to know the truth.

"Lord, you have to be honest with me. Ever since I mentioned the name Lucia you've been ignoring my questions regarding her."

"What are you talking about? I've never heard of her before!"

"Must I remind you that there's quite a resemblance between you and her."

She couldn't help but laugh a little, "It's funny, and I thought I was ready for a child. Instead I ran from my fears and did the wrong thing. Brian promise me you won't make the same decision, I do love her. I'm just not ready right now."

"Well what are you going to do while she's here with us? You have to talk to her like she still is your daughter. Otherwise she'll get the wrong impression and mistake Cree or Tara for her real mother."

"I know, but it's hard enough for me. And what about this battle that we're all preparing for?"

"Don't you worry about that, there are bigger things to take care of. I'll let you think it over for a while. I'll be getting some sleep now."

As I went back towards the hut Tara was sitting by the fire so I joined her.

"Did you get what you wanted this time?"

"I did, but she's not ready to accept the responsibility of it. She needs our help, you and I."

"Brian please doesn't assume that we're going to take her in as our own."

I looked at her with an obvious look, "We must have a backup plan in case something goes wrong. For one thing Sophia could get fed up and leave us. Also Lucia will think you're her mother. What will you do after that? We're not going to just give her up."

"Do you realize what that would do to us? Just having that baby around could tear us apart; I don't know what I would do without you Brian. We must find a way to join back Lucia and Sophia!"

"Alright, give me the night to think about it. I'll have a plan by morning."

"And if you don't Brian? Then what will we do?"

"If I don't then I don't, that's all there is to it!"

She rolled her eyes and headed in giving me a kiss on the way back. As she got inside the door she said to me, "You know, maybe it isn't a hard thing for you to realize right now, but we're putting ourselves in danger by battling out here. You should've just told her to leave before anyone else knows we're here."

"Yea…we'll see…" I leaned my head in the sand and closed my eyes, the stars reflecting through them slowly. I was hoping the night sky would have a quick answer for me.

For once Brian found himself in a jam. As the night went on he didn't go to sleep and he was running out of time. Would he end up having to sacrifice his friend for a baby? The morning sky could be felt…just around the bend…waiting for Brian to make his move.

"Brian gets up! We need your help for a moment."

Again having slept in the sand I felt some all dry on the side of my mouth.

"Aw man, clean that off before I point it out again! We have some serious shit to take care of today!"

Nothing seemed ordinary about today. Everyone was actually working before me! I looked around for Lucia but didn't see her at first. "Hey Tara where's Lucia?"

"She's over there by the bushes getting away from the sun, now get over here and help us!"

"What exactly is it that I'm helping out with?"

"Just get on the other side of us and hold up this board!"

I shrugged and pulled my shorts up a ways and went over to the board and held it up. "Is this thing going in the water?"

"Damn right! We're going to self test this baby today!"

The water seemed a bit choppy for any water activities.

"Maybe we could just continue our baseball game and worry about that for another day. Honestly we don't know the first thing about building. We were fortunate enough to get the hut up. This is far apart from building any hut!"

The wind picked up a ways and nearly blew me off balance. "Why do I have a feeling that something big is making its way towards us? Let's forget about the raft and go inside before anything else goes wrong!"

Just then rain started pouring on us like we were in the rain forest. It wasn't the same, but was very close. However the temperature never seemed to drop even after a rain storm. I had noticed some dark clouds not too far off shore when I woke up. I figured it was the sun reflecting off the water and up to the clouds. Soon the sun was no longer visible and that's when I knew something was coming.

"We can't quit now Brian we have too much to do today!"

"Oh yea like what? Haven't you noticed the wind and the rain falling down?"  
Everyone looked at me then up at the sky. I couldn't believe they didn't notice the wind, or for that matter the rain. It was as if they were talking to me, but they couldn't hear what I was saying back. Soon the wind picked up again and we had to stop what we were doing and go inside the hut.

"No we can't hide in the hut! We'll be more vulnerable to getting hurt! Quickly let's make for it to the forest!" I had to shout against the wind to even be heard at all. "I'll grab Lucia, you guys head towards the forest!"

They didn't waste another second after that; I didn't even bother getting my iPod since I knew there was a slim chance of it not being slightly damaged. Since Lucia was right by where we were going it was even for me to scoop her up and make my way into the forest. The top of the trees seemed to cover up what was inside from getting even touched.

"So what now Brian, how long do we wait until this thing blow over?" Cree looked at me.

"I don't know all we can do now is waiting. The rest is up to god himself."

Right then was when I realized that Sophia wasn't with us.

"Hey where's Sophia?"

"Last I saw of her she was down near the rocks thinking to herself."

I gave it a quick thought and handed Lucia to Tara, "I'm going after her, and all of you stay here!"

"Brian are you kidding, don't you even talk about going out into that!"

"Now isn't the time for arguing, I'll explain to you guys later!"

I poked my head out to be met with a gust of wind. This was going to be hell busting out! However I didn't let that bother me and started heading towards the rocks.

"Sophia! Sophia where are you?" I cried out.

I heard or saw nothing at the moment so I headed on. Soon I saw a body lying not too far from the forest.

"Sophia can you hear me? Look up at me if you can hear me!"

"Brian is that you?" She asked with a dry voice. "You shouldn't be out here, it'll get you!"

"What will…listen you have to cooperate with me. I'm going to get you inside the forest before this thing picks up even worse!"

She didn't want to seem to move at all. It was as if she had given up on her life and wanted to die right there. Each time I put my arms under her she yelled. I knew she had either been blown against one of the trees or had something sticking into her. Either way that wasn't stopping me from getting her out alive. Finally I made up my mind and picked her up regardless of the pain and headed back.

About halfway I saw a huge water spout coming onto land. I tried getting into the forest right where I was standing but the vines were too thick to cut into. The twisting water creature wasted no time in getting its job done. The noise it gave off indicated that it wasn't a natural occurrence. Instead it looked like someone or something had created it. Then it hit me, when I was on the airplane and the wind "reached" out for me and carried me here. Now I knew what it was after, Sophia.

"Hold on Sophia, we're going to be experiencing some turbulence!" And as I said that we were picked up off the ground, but right when it almost had us I gripped onto a palm tree with her against the tree and I.

"Come on big boy, is that all you got! Give us your worse!"

It roared even louder and started pulling us harder from the tree. I knew if it wouldn't let up soon my arm would be torn right out of the socket. I tried adjusting my grip on the tree without letting of it or Sophia.

Finally it gave out a final roar and let go of us in which I had to tighten my grip even harder to keep from falling down. The creature headed back into the ocean roaring in a very deep voice, "This is only the beginning, and you will pay dearly next time!"

I held onto the tree with one hand praying that I wouldn't let go of her. Her back was turned to me so that I could see what was sticking into her back. It was a thorn stick of some kind and it was in pretty deep. As I tried getting it out the tree began to bend and sway.

"What the hell is going on? Don't tell me this island is alive!"

The tree soon started spiraling in circles trying to throw us off like a raging bull. I knew at this point that it wouldn't matter If I let go or not. Either way I would end up hurting. I made up my mind and came up with a plan to get off when it bent towards the sand so it would be a comfortable landing. However each time it went back it rubbed against the other trees scratching me up as well as leaving burns on my legs. After a while of hesitating I let go dropping onto the sand. Sophia was barely breathing at this point so I had to make her last as much longer as I could. The rain had died down quite a bit since the spout left so It was easier for me to run; the ground was quite hard thanks to it.

"Sophia we have to meet up with the others in the forest."

Nothing else seemed to stop us after we got into it. I ran to the group and laid Sophia down hoping they would know what to do. "Don't let Lucia see this! I'm going back to see exactly what is going on.

"Jason will you take Lucia and go somewhere where you can be alone?"

He didn't argue and picked her up and walked on for a ways.

As soon as I poked my head out again I heard a loud ripping noise and saw the tree rip out of the ground. The emotion on its face said absolutely nothing. I closed the vines in time for it not to notice me.

"Ok guys we have a bigger problem. Oh man I hate these situations. We need something sharp and thick! Cree go see if you can find Sophia's belt near the rocks. You remember where that is right?"

"Sure Brian, give me two seconds and I'll have it back for you."

I nodded my head and watched her run off, "Cree wait, if you happen to see it heading towards you get back to us right away!"

She didn't respond though I knew she heard me. I took in a breath and headed back towards the clearing. For some reason when I looked out at tree; it was…sitting on the ground now. I saw bud sleeping on the ground and picked him up, "Sorry to do this man, I'll make it up to you later!" I kissed him and chucked it against the bark of the tree sitting there.

The tree didn't seem to budge when that happened. It just rubbed its back and sat there.

My face turned to total dismay. In a small weak voice I spoke out, "Ex.…excuses me Mr. Tree, if you can hear me turn around."

It acted like I was a mouse compared to it, which I mostly was.

In a raspy and clogged up voice It replied, "Who's there, I say come out wherever you are."

I was breathing hard at the moment but slowly crept out into the clearing towards it.

"Behind you sir, please don't hurt me." Everything in my mind was spinning.

It turned around and looked at me with two lines as its eyes and muttered, "Hey don't be afraid of me. I've just been in hibernation for the past three hundred years…say you're not like the other creatures I've seen when I was alive before. Are you from around here?"

I shook my head quickly, "Oh no sir though I've been here for about a month now. You see my friends and I are stranded here."

The tree bent down towards me and examined my body, "Well now like I said I mean no harm. Back there, that was my entire fault. I knew something was on me but I was still half asleep when I was stretching out my leaves."

It was at that time that Cree returned with some sharp items and the tree got up immediately and backed up. "Hello young lady I was just telling your friend here that I mean no harm. If you would kindly put those away I would appreciate it."

"Cree don't be afraid; he really doesn't want to hurt us."

"Brian I don't know what to believe from you anymore! Everything that seems to be bad turns out to be some kind of friendly neighbor to you! I really don't know what else to tell you."

She looked up at the tree and glared at it, "I've got my eyes on you pal! If you make one false move we'll be using your skin as fire wood!" And she stormed off into the forest.

"Please don't misunderstand me. Even though I've been asleep this whole time you were here I've seen you walking around on occasions. My eyes are closed, but I have a scanner inside my head that tells me what is going on around me."

"No really it's ok; I guess we still aren't used to these kinds of things happening. You do know why we're here, right?"

"I wish I could tell you for myself, but since I arrived here too it hasn't been a smooth ride. I think that the same thing that got you here was the cause of me arriving here as well. Does that make sense to you?"

I didn't reply for a moment and thought about why I was here.

"If I may ask you, since you may know about what I'm going through. Has this been happening since you arrived? Like the water spout and the…well Sophia, is this what always happens?"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure. It may be, but my best guess is that it happens in a different way each time new people arrive. I mean after you guys leave, if you do that is, and a new group arrives then we'll know if this is just a glimpse."

"Is that what you think, this is possibly all a glimpse?"

"That's right…someone or something is out there causing panic and chaos. You must get to the bottom of it right away! Well let's talk about something else, my name is Deku."

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Brian. I guess you know everything else on this island that can talk?"

"Certainly I hear them everyday, maybe not what you see. The last time I was alive the person I talked to the most was Axel."

I looked up at him with a tear in my eye after he had said that.

"I'm sorry, have I said something wrong?"

"No, I too once knew him. Though recently we had a tragic encounter…and he's no longer with us."

"I see…well when I knew him we was still learning to swim. I guess his time was almost up when you arrived."

I thought about why one of Axel's eyes was bigger then the other.

"If you're wondering why his right eye was bigger then the left I can tell you the reason."

"Really do you know? Please tell me, I don't think it matters anymore now that he is gone."

"Well it was right when I came out of sleeping about three hundred years ago…" And that's when Tara and Jason came out with Cree.

"Brian would you please telling us why you are talking to a tree?"

"Didn't Cree tell you, he has no intention of hurting us? He wants us as his friends."

"I guess I have to side with Cree this time Brian, how can we expect to believe you of all these crazy happenings?"

Deku looked at them and said, "If you have a problem with Brian then talk to me about it. I've seen a lot of people like him coming here, and each time they save you people you have to be…well you know what I'm talking about. If I were you I'd suggest getting off his back. Just because he's done everything to his power to keep all of you alive doesn't mean you can keep switching on him like that."

"Well then, Deku, how do we know we can trust you? The last thing we trusted on this island other than ourselves was an alligator, and now he's gone!" Tara cried out.

"I know what you mean, and trust me. I knew him long before you did, he was the best of friend you could have in this situation that you're in. Well…now that I'm out and about if you need any help whatsoever please feel free to ask me. The one thing I will do without asking is getting you guys' food. Believe it or not there is food on top of these huge trees which would last you an eternity. And believe me I know you're sick of eating fish, isn't that right…Cree?"

She couldn't help but laugh a bit, "I know, I'm just really…"

"Picky? Yes I know, just tell me what you want and I'll do the best of my powers to help you out." He said with a fond face.

I could tell she was starting to feel comfortable with him. Tara and Jason would have to find out for themselves though the hard way, especially Jason.

"Well it's getting late, let me get started on getting some food then we'll discuss your situation over dinner. How does that sound?"

I looked over at Jason and Tara replying for them, "Yes please do join us, and…thank you. We've really had our share of luck and misery here."

"I can tell. Brian by the way, you had someone else with you when you were on my branches, where is that person?"

Tara didn't respond and looked over at Jason.

"It...Was…too late. I'm afraid we couldn't save her."

I looked at Deku, "She had a daughter that she didn't want to accept. Her daughter is still very young and I don't want her to know about this. What do you think we should do?"

"Well bring the child to me and left me look at her. Maybe it would be best for you and Tara to take her in as your own. Help her realize what her place in society is."

Tara didn't seem too thrilled about the idea as wasn't I. "Do you realize that we are too young to just suddenly make a decision like that?"

"Indeed I can tell, but that's no reason not to reject her. She needs someone to look up to. I knew that when Sophia put her on this island she knew Lucia would be just fine. That's why nothing has happened to her yet, Lucia I mean. Well enough of me talking for right now, let's eat."

I agreed and started getting some wood that was found where Jason had taken Lucia during the storm.

"Brian how do you want the formation of wood to be this time?" Jason asked jokingly?

"Um it doesn't bother me, however you feel is best."

"Aye-aye captain are! You wont' be disappointed!"

"What are you talking about; you were the captain in soccer!"

"That doesn't count! This is more important then any games!"

I laughed and grabbed a coconut, "Maybe we should just see about that Mr. Captain! Besides you scored a shit load of goals your senior year! I'm quite jealous, well actually it's more of a pissed off feeling then jealousy. But enough with that, let's eat!"

Deku hadn't said anything since I mentioned that Lucia was here, though I knew it had nothing to do with that.

However he kept to his word on getting us food, which he did. I was quite impressed with what he got even though it was a challenge to get it. When I saw that he had pineapples I started jumping up and down making a fool out of myself but I didn't care. I knew that no one would keep me from having my beloved fruit.

"Hey Brian, do you want some juice squeezed from that?" Tara asked in a sexual fashion.

"Ha-ha, maybe later when we're alone!" I said with a smirk.

She winked at me and continued squeezing the juice out into a cup we had made out of wood.

"Ok, let's all gather around the fire. I'd like to make a toast to Deku for all his hard work on getting us good food for once." I tried making a joke when I said that, "For if he hadn't got us it we possibly would be swimming with the fish right now!"

Everyone looked at me and didn't even crack a smile. "Eh Brian maybe you should stick with being a hero and let someone else handle the comedy."

Deku however was on his stomach and laughing hard, "Did you hear what he said! He said swim…then fish! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh man my gut hurts!"

"Ha-ha yes thank you Deku, but seriously folks. I want to dedicate this dinner to him."

Again no one laughed.

"Well ok enough with the jokes…let's eat!"

I didn't know if it was my joke or the fact that Deku kept laughing that kept everyone else from eating.

"Hey Deku you can stop laughing now, no one else found it funny." Cree said.

"Are you kidding? That's the best joke I've heard in years!"

"Well then it looks like everyone else that's been here before us must've really had no…sense of humor?" I said with a twist.

"Oh man you're going to make me burst my bark! I can't stop, oh man someone make it stop!"  
"Nice going Brian, what did we just tell you?"

"Eh sorry about that, he'll shut up sooner or later."

"You know he doesn't really look all that smart for behaving like a kid."

"Oh please Tara, just because at least Brian has one and you don't makes him at least funny." Jason said. "I've heard him say things that would qualify him to be a stand up long before you'd even think about it."

"He's right Tara." Deku said trying to recover, "Don't knock people down just because they may not be good at it. It's always a good idea to give people some time before making any conclusions."

Tara only grunted and continued eating.

"Ok enough with this; we should be enjoying each other's company. We don't know what each new day will bring out. Remember that we should live each day like it's our last!" I said cheerfully.

No one bothered listening to my pep talk; they never did listen to begin with.

"If you aren't going to listen to me then I guess we won't be able to play any games tomorrow!"

Only Jason looked up, "Brian isn't it time that we thought about getting off this place?"

"Jason…have I given you a reason for keeping you here? I'm only trying to make time go by faster so that we won't have to talk about this."

"Eh I guess you're right." He looked over at Cree and Tara, "What say you guys? We could do boys against girls or couples. It doesn't matter to me which we do."

Tara looked over to me, "Well if Brian is as good as he says he is then I'll be with him then."

"Good choice Tara, this will be very interesting. We shall start playing around noon."

"Hey Jason, is our sun dial still in tact?"

"Oh shit no I haven't gone to check on it since the storm; we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see about that."

"Right, ok after we're done eating I suggest that we get some sleep so that we'll be ready for tomorrow."

No one objected to that and finished eating what was left and gave the rest to Deku who still was laughing a little. I couldn't tell if Tara still wanted to finish what we had started a while ago.

"Tara is we going to finish our little secret?"

"Well that depends Brian, with that game we have tomorrow I think you could make up heavily for it. If we win I think you'll know what my decision is." She put her arms around my neck and pulled me back onto her. "If it means that much to you; we can do it tonight."

"No I want to earn it, and besides I like waiting for this kind of stuff. Makes it seem more real!"

"Indeed you are right Brian, now what say we get some sleep."

I agreed and followed her in.

"Where are you going Brian? Didn't Cree tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"I talked to her last night about the sleeping arrangements along with Jason and we feel that we should start trying something new."

"You mean sleeping together? Is that what you really want?" I asked honestly.

"Of course that's what I want; we might as well try anything if we're still stuck here. I think that'll make us feel more comfortable on whatever decision we make if we do end up off here."

I agreed and followed her back into the room and got into bed. The beds weren't together, but Tara and I slid them next to each other so it'd feel more real.

I hadn't told her of my habit that I have when I sleep so I'd let her figure it out on her own.

Soon I was asleep before she could make any moves on me. I could feel my teeth clench and start grinding against each other.

Deku slept outside the hut and didn't seem to mind it. Though as I slept I wondered if he knew about our situation when Sophia had first arrived…


	28. Whoopee Cushions are Fun and is Soccer

June 24th, 2006

My eyes were crusted shut. I took my hand and grabbed my eyelashes and pulled up as much of the gunk as I could. One of my eyes opened but the other one remained shut. In my mind I was shouting that I was half blind. Though I knew it was nothing big at the moment.

Tara still was asleep next to me so I got up and stepped over her bed without making a sound. However I didn't realize that someone placed whoopee cushion on the floor where I stepped. When it went off Tara woke up and made a face at me.

"Brian honestly, couldn't you have made it to the forest before launching a stink bomb?"

I picked it up and showed her.

"Stop making up excuses and go do your thing." She yawned and turned back over to sleep.

I did my famous, "why me?" face and went outside.

"Hey Brian what was that in your room? It sounded like you couldn't hold in last night's dinner!" Jason said mockingly and laughed.

Cree was next to him and started laughing as well, "Jason you have the weirdest laugh. It sounds nothing like any guy I've heard before."

I laughed back at him, "Oh man she just pawned you!"

"Oh shut up Brian let's not forget whose going to win today's game!"

I poked my tongue at him, "If you'll excuse me I have to use the palm trees now. We can discuss winners and losers cough after I get back!"

He and Cree continued laughing after I went in and did my business.

"Whoever thought of whoopee cushions being funny should be drug into the street and shot!"

As I sat there against a tree doing my business I had a lot going through my mind. One was Tara; sure she was the world to me at the moment. I just tried to figure out how we would end up together forever. Another thing was the soccer game today. I didn't know if Tara was up by now but we had to practice! The last thing was how we're going to battle the army that was coming for us. I didn't know if my friends would get here in time or if they would make a last minute entrance.

"Brian please leaves now so I can do my thing too!" Tara demanded.

"And if I don't then what will happen?" I asked briefly.

"Trust me, after I'm done here you'll wish you had gone back!"

"Fine give me a second then I'll be out, everyone seems to be against me today…what have I done wrong?"

"Who knows…just don't give it another thought. I know how you are when your head is full sweetie! And remember, we're going to kick some ass today! Whether they forfeit or give up we're going to mercy them!"

"Let's hope so, I don't think I can take another negative thought for the day…"

She wrapped her arms around me and looked into my eyes, "Brian I want you to know that us being together has been the highlight of my life. I don't think I could've ended up with anyone more caring then you. Please don't change, not even for me."

I nodded my head and kissed her then walked out of the forest sitting down by the fire.

"So what are we exactly going to use for a soccer ball?" Jason asked confusingly.

"Eh, we'll figure out something, maybe use a coconut, but that would mean wearing shoes and not sandals, right Cree?"

"Yea sure Brian, just because I wear sandals all the time doesn't mean I'm not good at soccer!"

I picked up a coconut and tossed it to Jason, "Here try doing a header with this thing!"

He thought about it for a second then replied, "You thought I was going to fall for it weren't you! Honestly though what are we going to use for a ball?"

I quickly thought of a joke and said, "Well we can play like the pioneers and use wooden balls and use fake goal nets! In fact we don't even need to wear shoes, we can play naked!"

Everyone immediately looked up at me.

Tara gave off a smirk and replied, "Sounds tempting, we may have to give it a try Brian. It would be more of a distraction to them rather then concentrating!"

Cree and Jason turned red and both said at the same time, "No way! Either we play the normal way or we don't play at all!"

I said in a joking fashion, "Don't worry I was only kidding, gosh. Can't you have a little sense of humor?"

"No!" they both shouted.

"Ok fine! The game will start in approximately ten minutes! All teams report to the sandlot over by the water. We'll discuss rules and times when we get there! Last one there gets the ball after the game!"

And right there I took off leaving everyone in the dust.

"Damn it Brian that's not fair!" Jason yelled. "I'll catch up to you and slow you down!"

Unfortunately he didn't but Cree ended up the last one there. She didn't really care that she had to get the ball after the game was over.

"Alright, everyone gather around me, I shall be the official ref for today's game. If you feel that I missed a call or that for any reason you don't want to play you'll have to go through me first. We shall do thirty minute halves. The team shall be Tara and I against Jason and Cree! Don't be jealous though when we win! cough"

"Brian what was that cough for?" Cree asked.

Tara and Jason looked at her and rolled their eyes.

"We'll all five to ten minutes to warm up. You guys go over and discuss your strategy."

"Oh there's no need to Brian, we're all ready to go!"

I looked at Tara, "Are you ready to go then?"

"Are you kidding, I haven't played soccer in a few years, give me a few minutes to get warmed up. Then I'll be in top shape!"

She took off her shirt only having a sports bra on and soccer shorts. I couldn't help but notice them on her.

"Tara you look terrible with that bra on take it off!" I shouted jokingly.

She winked at me and motioned to get ready.

"Alright! I officially declare the island games begun!"

I dropped the ball between Jason and Tara. He won the ball but it was going to take more then reaction to win this game.

"The game time temperature is brought to you by Brian's hut! The temperature at the moment is nearing 100 degrees!" I announced running along with Jason. "Tara you stay with Cree! I got Big J over here!"

I'll admit it was hard to play soccer in the sand since you couldn't dribble it easily. Jason didn't have much problem with that though. He made quick movements keeping the ball between him and nearing our goal.

Soon he made a fake out on me and did an off balance shot striking off the side post and rolling in.

"Goal! Ronaldo is on fire today!" He yelled.

I knew he didn't want to celebrate with Cree because it'd be weird for them but I whispered as he ran past me, "Hey do some kind of dance with her when you score, that'll get her all over you later!" he nodded at me and continued to his side.

Tara said she'd do the kickoff for us so I let her. Mainly for the game I was playing defense since my body has had several nicknames such as, Beast, Computer, and Mystic Striker. Though I've had my share of being disappointing and let down.

She took the ball up field trying to take down Cree as she spun around and took a rocket shot ricocheting off the top bar and back towards me. I landed it and passed it back up to Tara who had broken free from Cree and tapped it in. So the score was now one to one.

She ran up to me and jumped on me while I ran across the field screaming and yelling.

I couldn't help but say, "Hey Jason! Looks like you haven't practiced enough!"

He laughed and kicked off to Cree who was back on defense as well. She wasn't the best ball handler among us but she wasn't the worse either. Jason seemed a little rusty from playing over the summer but it didn't affect his game as much as it did to mine.

The game seemed very repetitive and lacking style since Jason scored the same way each time. Sometimes Tara and I would switch positions. She turned out to be a lot better at defense then me. She wasn't like me where I would boot the ball each time it came to me. Instead she would trap it and wait for me to get open to pass to. Sometimes Cree would make a move to steal the ball but Tara was quick to react to this and headed towards the corner lowering Cree away from the goal box and enabling me to make a move to her so that I could go from there and see if I could fake out Jason or not. Most of the time it didn't work but there were the occasions in which I'd have a clear shot at the goal but miss it to the side.

Something about me is that when that happens I tend to over react by kicking sand around or putting my head in my shirt and cursing like there's no tomorrow. Tara however didn't seem too happy about me doing that. Especially the sand kicking part, she didn't respond too well to that, after I kicked some onto her accidentally she hit me upside the head. She didn't' mind the cursing seeing as though she did that just as much.

Finally as the game drew on the score was eight to ten them. We didn't have a running clock so we had to use the sun as a timer. That makes sense seeing as though it was about half way down right now. I know it doesn't seem like we've been playing that long but when it's this hot out no one is thinking clearly.

As the sweat dripped off of Tara's body I couldn't help but think how she was going to clean up seeing as though the only place was the ocean and that had a lot of salt in it. The problem with having me on a team is that my mind tends to wander off when I should be concentrating. One time during the game I got caught by Tara looking up at the sky while Jason shot one past me in the goal.

"Brian what the hell are you doing? Pay attention before I come back there and kick your ass! Remember I don't want to lose if you know what's good for you!"

"Eh it's too hot to play right now…I need to take a quick break."

"We don't have time for breaks Brian! The sun will be setting soon, I want someone to win tonight, and it'd better be us!"

"Fine, but if I start daydreaming again it's not my fault!"

She glared at me before we kicked off and said, "Brian I didn't come all this way just to be disappointed, now either you get yourself together or you'll hear from me later!"

"In case you haven't seen baby I'm very hot and exhausted and this isn't good for my condition!"

"Have you forgotten already Brian? That stuff that Axel put into you will never make you have a seizure again! Now play as if you're on full energy!"

I started whistling as play continued making moves along as I went and managed to get the ball through Jason's legs and beat him to it then doing it again to Cree and scoring.

"That's what I'm talking about Brian! If you keep doing that we'll be good for later!"

Cree happened to hear this and say, "What would that be Tara?"

"It's called alone time! Now let's play!"

Cree rolled her eyes and went back to the net. "Ok the score in nine to ten us, how about first one to three goals wins."

"Let's make if five!" Tara shouted.

"What, are you kidding! Come on Tara we're tired too, we want to end this as painless as possible!" Jason commented.

"Come on you pansies! Just five more goals and we'll be done!"

I tried thinking of something that would make it go faster. One idea was simply kicking the ball into our net by "accident" and saying it was a mistake rather than that.

"No that wouldn't work." I said in my mind. "Maybe we could just call it a tie instead, then again I wouldn't get to have any fun with Tara tonight and she'd probably hate me for it. Eh oh wells let's just see what happens I guess."

"Hey Brian are you ready?" Tara yelled out behind me.

"Alright, let's get this thing over!"

I got control of the ball and exploded out of my self and shot a rocket hitting nothing but the middle of the net.

"Take that bitches! Now that I'm my beastly self nothing is stopping me!" I cried out.

"Ah shit I was hoping he wouldn't turn into that!" Jason said exhaustingly.

Tara smirked at me for the first time in a while and whispered into my ear, "I hope you're like that later for me…if you are I'll give you a little surprise of my own…"

I didn't express any emotions and waited for them to kick off. I stole the cut off pass from Cree and slammed the ball again making the score two to nothing. I hadn't intended on them scoring once we got rolling. Jason didn't seem up to par with me and continued making sloppy kicks and passes eventually leading up to our victory.

The commencement of shaking hands took place followed by walking back to the hut. Jason and Cree got going right after we shook hands leaving us two alone.

"I wonder why they took off so quickly like that." I asked.

"Well I convinced Cree to do what we were doing as well tonight, it seems like your friend Jason wasn't up to doing it. Rather just getting cleaned up and going to bed."

"Eh figures, when you've known him as long as I have you'd know that was typical of him."

She didn't laugh but instead moved closer to me, "We should've done a celebration dance after the game, I guess we can dance right now instead to make up for that."

She winked at me and took my hands on placed them around her curvy hips as we started moving back and forth. She was still hot and sweaty from the game but that made it even more interesting since I was the same way. She still had only her bra on above and the shorts. I had my Christian Vieri jersey and long yellow shorts on.

I thought about taking the jersey off since it was starting to itch halfway through the game but I knew it wasn't a big deal so I kept it on.

The sun could be seen cut in half as it kept going below the water's surface. It wouldn't matter however because the moon was just as bright as when It was day out.

A cool thing was Tara had a neon bra on so it lit up when the moon came out. I knew she couldn't see me looking at it since her head was resting on my shoulder. She was very exhausted after the game but I didn't want to say anything about it.

"Brian, I hope you know that I didn't mean any of that stuff that I was shouting at you during the game. When we first met I told you that I like winning more then losing."

"Well of course who likes losing? You were only doing what you thought was natural of yourself. And I respect that kind of authority." I said smiling up at the moon.

"Do you really, I know a lot of people are annoyed by my attitude. I know that you can be as well. Somehow I knew there was something inside of you that always made you play better than Jason."

"I try to not think about it. And besides he's a much better player than I am. The only reason he couldn't win was that he didn't put it all his effort. Otherwise we wouldn't be talking right now, right?"

"I guess you're right, though what's still bothering me is what we're going to do about the battle taking place soon. Your friends still haven't arrived and we're losing time. What are we going to do Brian?"

"All we can do is keep praying that everything will be ok. And you never know, maybe the army won't come and start a war with us now that Sophia is no longer around. They would have no reason anymore."

As we continued dancing we didn't say anything else. Tara still seemed bothered by the whole army thing. I didn't give it a thought unless it actually happened. I thought she may give up and believe that my friends wouldn't come.

"Brian if it's ok with you I'd like to hold back a little longer on our alone time. I know we're alone right now but…well you know what I mean."

"Of course, that's fine. I know how you feel but I don't want to see you worrying all the time. I'll talk to Deku about our situation and see what he thinks of it."

"Would you do that Brian? I'm just really scared right now. I guess I'm just very lucky to be with someone like you. If I was in your position right now I would be lost."

I smiled back and gave her a kiss of reinsurance. As the moon rose higher we decided we should head back to the hut and get some rest. She went in right away but I decided to stay out a little bit longer. Soon Deku came out of the forest and walked over to me.

"Hey Brian, how are things going? I heard your conversation with Tara over there and I know how you're feeling right now."

"Do you, I have no idea what to do. If my friends really don't show up then our lives will be over soon."

"Brian you have nothing to worry about, haven't you noticed all the trees that look like me? They are all my brothers and sisters. We are her to protect you from anything that may try to hurt you and your friends. If I were you I would tell Tara right away that everything is going to be alright."

I shook my head and stood up, "It's hard for my friends to believe that they can trust you. How would I tell them why they have no reason to worry?"

"Ok Brian this is what I want you to do. Tomorrow when you get up if no one else is up then come meet me in the forest. I want to show you something. It's time that I show you and your friends that I'm going to help you out no matter what."

"Yea well…we'll see…"

I looked at him with a frown on my face and headed inside. Before I went into the room I thought about what he said and how everyone else would take to that. When I entered the room Tara was still up reading a book.

"How come you're still up? I thought you were going to bed."

"I was, but I heard you talking to Deku and I guess it is hard for me to believe that he's really going to help us."

She put down her book and looked at me, her eyes were somewhat red.

"I guess what I'm saying, are we going to survive here or not?"

"If I knew I would tell you, but I still don't know at this point. All I can tell you is that I will always be at your side no matter what happens."

"What about Jason and Cree? How will they get through this?"

"The same way we are, by sticking together!"

She got up off the bed and walked over to me, "Brian you must promise me that nothing will happen to any of us."

"I can't promise you that, all I can promise is that we will get off this island safely if not all together."

"I don't want to hear that! You must tell me that everything is going to be ok Brian! Don't you say that we all won't make it off here?"

"Ok just calm down alright please? We don't need this right now; in the first place the army hasn't even arrived! Let's just continue on like we always would each day."

She gave me a big hug placing her arms around my neck and whispered, "No matter what happens between us I'll always love you Brian, when we got off this island I want to stay with you forever!"

I felt the same way she did, scared and weak. The only thing holding me back from answering yes was still the army. Believe it or not I haven't seen the slightest clue of anything bad happening.

"I understand, and if you really do feel that way then nothing should be holding us back from expressing our love for each other."

"You're right Brian, and if you really mean that then we can have our little fun sometime tomorrow if you want."

"That sound perfect baby, just tell me when and I'm there!"

She gave me one last kiss for the day and climbed back into bed, "Come to bed now, maybe I'll give you a sneak peak of tomorrow."

I grinned back and climbed slowly into bed beside her getting closer and putting my arm on her side. "Anything that happens right now doesn't bother me; even if they did come right now I wouldn't be alarmed. We have reinforcements with us that Jason and Cree don't even know about. Deku is on our side and will help us even if we say no."

She nodded her head and kissed me gently and slowly.

I didn't know what her next move was so I just eased closer to her.

"Brian are you sure you want to do it now? Wouldn't tomorrow be better?"

"I don't care; either way is fine with me."

"Alright let's just get some rest so that we'll be ready tomorrow."

I kissed her goodnight and held her closely to me as I slept…but the thought of Deku still floated in my head…wondering what he would have for me.


	29. The Sword, Betrayal, and a War

June 25th, 2006

Sometimes I tended to sleep on three hour intervals. Tonight was one of those cases. I woke up with Tara still between my arms. The time read four o' five in the morning. I figured this was good enough to meet up with Deku. I went outside and called his name. He was by the fire snoring gently.

I poked his side to see what would happen.

He turned over on his shoulder and looked at me all dreary like, "Brian what is it? It's too early to be up."

"I've come so you can show me how to protect my friends."

"…oh I don't know Brian, can't it wait until morning?"

"No, our time is growing shorter and shorter. I'll sleep later in the day."  
"You think that's going to help you prepare for this battle?"

"Well by the example you're giving me it looks like it isn't!"

He finally came to and got up brushing the sand off his body. "Ok let's get this over with!"

I agreed and followed him into the middle of the forest. It seemed longer with the moon up and the trail was shorter than normal. When we got there he bent down and opened a trap door in the middle and started to go in.

"Don't worry, this shouldn't take too long. Come on in."

I shrugged and followed him in, "What is that smell?" I said covering my nose.

"You'll have to excuse that, I haven't been down here in three hundred years so you can bet everything has pretty much gone to waste!"

The stench was so strong that it leaked out of the door and onto the island. Soon everyone else would be up and notice that I'm not there. Tara would be worried of course.

He led me down a small corridor that led to a shiny object in the middle of the room.

"Hey Deku what is that in the middle?"

"Why Brian this is the key that has kept this island protected for thousands of years. Believe it or not this isn't the first time that an army has tried to take over our island."

"Our?"

"Yes, whoever lands here is given part of the island to protect from any evil that should occur. No one is allowed to touch the key except whoever is in charge of the group of people who lands here, thus meaning you!"

"So you're saying that I have the power to protect this island?"

"Yes that is correct, and more importantly the power to protect your friends. I know how much Tara means to you, and I want you to have the strength to do it as well."

This all seemed to good to be true to me at the moment but I didn't ask any more questions.

"Go ahead Brian, hold it up!"

I did as I was told and took the key off the pedestal. It gave off a blinding beam of light that lasted about ten seconds. It was as if it had programmed my memory and strength into itself because the key felt light and powerful at the same time.

"Well what do you think? Great isn't it?"

"I'm not sure; waiting for something bad to come is one thing. Though fighting them is something else. I don't know that I'm up to handling this."

"Brian how many times must I tell you? You are the key bearer. Until someone proves their strength over you will have the ability to defeat whoever comes close to you, not including your friends and more importantly Tara."

"Tara eh?" I couldn't help but show off my powers while I was down here. I took a couple of swings around.

"Whoa easy there tex, I know you think you're hot stuff but it's going to take more than just power to overcome your challenge."

I hadn't intended on there being more. He explained to me the purpose of the key and why it was placed on this island. Without it we would perish almost instantly.

"So what about your tree friends, they'll be here to help me out too, right?"

"Oh yes don't worry about that, they'll be here incase your friends don't show up. Now I think that should do it for right now, let's get you back to the hut so you can get some sleep."

The key somehow gave off a feeling of power, like there was nothing to stop me…the only person who could was…Tara. When I got back she was still sleeping peacefully.

I picked up my cell phone which now read six thirty seven. It was still too early to do anything so I headed back to bed. Deku practically tripped into the sand but started snoring immediately. I wasn't the kind of person to do that, well actually it was more my bodies choice. The only problem I had was teeth grinding. I've felt myself doing it before in the night but not enough for people to tell me how annoying it is.

"Brian wake up! Brian wwwaaaakkkkeeeee uuuuuupppppp!"

Cree was leaning over my bed looking down on me.

"What is it Cree…what time is it?"

"That doesn't matter Brian, read this note that we found!"

I took the note from her and focused my eyes on it.

"Due to circumstances beyond our control we won't be able to make it to assist you in your times of need. We hope you understand; we will make it up to you somehow."

-Team Brazil

The question of how they got this note here was up for grabs again. I walked outside and looked out across the ocean. Tara ran up behind me when she heard of the note.

"Brian what does the note mean?"

"Well it's kind of obvious. We will need reinforcements to replace my friends from coming. And I know just where to find them."

Deku must've left before I saw the note because there was a large imprint in the sand where he had slept. I leaped over the imprint and headed into the cabin and changed quickly before Tara could object to my leaving the area again.

"Brian, where the hell are you going this time?"

"Tara I'm doing this for your own good! I'll be back later!"

I knew either way she'd be more worried then anyone else.

The one thing on my mind at the moment that stood out was being able to keep the key sword a secret from everyone else…even Tara. Deku seemed to know that I was trying to find him because he was doing crunches on the sand inside the forest. I hadn't noticed yet, because I was still looking down at the letter.

"Deku I just got this letter this morning and I don't know…um what are you doing?"

"Preparing for battle Brian; this is one of the most effective ways of loosening up my body and also for powering up."

I shook my head and showed him the letter, "We will need your help even if you already agreed to it. I don't know what was more important to them then not helping us out!"

"Well I'm sure they had a good reason for bailing at the last minute. It had better be good if they know what's good for them."

"Now hold on, they're my friends no matter what! The last thing I need is for you to change sides against them. We should be concentrating on the army…"

"Oh alright! What else do you need to be ready?"

I took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm not sure, I guess just for them to show up so we can get this over with."

"Are you sure, what are you going to do with Lucia?"

"Oh shit I forgot about her. I have to go back right now and warn everyone!"

"Right you do that; I'll summon my brothers up!"

I ran back as fast as I could even though I wasn't in the best of shape. As I ran I noticed my clothes seemed to be changing colors. My shorts grew longer and my shirt turned into a bright yellow color with little sparkles coming off of it.

As I got back everyone was laying around the fire.

"Brian, where in the hell were you; don't you ever think about anyone before yourself!"

"Shut up and listen! The army is making its way here right now! You must get Lucia and clear the area right now!"

Tara got up right away and shouted, "Ok Brian now you've gone too far! It's one thing to see you battling, but it's another to be doing it by yourself!"

"I won't be alone; I have Deku and his friends on my side. Now go!"

She didn't seem to be buying what I was saying.

"Look if you don't go right now you'll be hearing from me later Tara!"

Jason and Cree didn't seem to argue, they hurried right into the forest.

"Brian…let me stay and fight with you."

"That is out of the question, go take cover with everyone else and wait for me to come back! I'm not going to lose you! You think I'm going to risk your life when you don't even know what you're up against!"

"Don't you pull this art of being the hero crap on me? I know how you feel about my powers, but that's no reason to not let me try!"

"Look whether you like it or not I'm doing this without your help, I will not lose you!"

She looked at me with a tear falling off her eye, "If you die I swear I will not shed another tear on you again!"

I struck my key into the sand splitting the ground open.

As she ran back there, I thought about sacrificing and fighting for what's good.

"Tara, hold up!"

I knew I could run faster then her so I sprinted into the forest but just as I reached her the ground started shaking again, but not from what I did back there.

"Brian what's going on!" Tara screamed.

"Get onto my back! This is going to be rough!"

She didn't weigh as much as I expected and I started towards where Deku was.

"Brian isn't this awesome! We're going to have ourselves a good ass whooping!"

I saw about three hundred trees stacked behind him.

"Oh men how can this get even sweeter?" I thought to myself.

The ship landed next to the water and a door opened with a figure standing in the light.

"Will the human known as Brian please step forward!"

I looked back at Deku who motioned me to do as told.

Slowly I took my key and put it behind my head and walked forward.

"Yes I am Brian, what is it you wish from me?"

I still couldn't make out the figure but whoever it was they weren't too tall.

"I've been waiting for you Brian. Today you shall witness the greatest defeat this island has ever seen! Are you up to my challenge?"

"It depends, first show me yourself then I will decide!"

"Ha-ha you expect me to show myself? That would take all the fun out of it!"

Deku and his brothers held their positions. I knew they weren't going to budge until someone fired.

"Why won't you show me? Are you afraid of me; or is it because…you took my friends!"

The figure gasped and replied, "What are you talking about? They weren't supposed to tell you that!"

"Oh I have my sources. My friends would never desert me no matter the situation!"

"Well that won't matter because in a few hours time the battle will expire and they shall be terminated!"

I signaled to Deku behind my back to get ready to charge.

"Well Deku, it's been a long time!"

"Same with you, Drexel I nearly didn't recognize you for a moment. I see you're up to your normal habits of taking over planets."

"Oh with pleasure; don't be negative, just because I will soon be the most powerful lord around doesn't mean you have to be a bad sport! I've had enough with this nonsense!"

He shut the door and there was silence for a moment. Soon a large boulder was fired from the cannon heading for Deku.

"Deku take cover!"

He nearly dodged it and yelled, "Attack!"

Soon the trees were stampeding towards the ship; I was ahead leading the charge. Tara had headed back towards the hut when the ship landed. I knew she wasn't ready for this yet.

"Brian takes this group and head up the platform to see if you can get in!"

I nodded and made my way towards the deck while slashing soldiers as I went up. One of them attempted to dive onto me from above but missed and got a tree instead who threw them into the ocean.

While I was attacking my heart was flowing with adrenaline and power. I knew nothing was going to stop me.

Deku and his group meanwhile were trying to tear the side of the ship apart so they could make a sneak attack.

They used their heads as battering rams to knock into the ship.

"On my count men, we go full force on it!" Deku shouted. "One, Two…"

Before he could finish a group of soldiers noticed what they were doing and jumped into the water. They weren't as tall as the trees and soon were cleared out.

"Ok one more time; three, two, one, now!"

There were six trees that slammed their branches into the ship making a twenty foot hole on the side.

"Everybody get inside right now and head for the deck above taking out anyone who gets in your way! This is our chance to show those bastards who's really in charge!"

By this time I had just arrived on the deck. With all the distractions of the soldiers and the cannons it seemed like they were doing this on purpose just too waste time. They weren't really trying to take control of the island. I tried finding Deku as soon as I could while making my way through all the fighting.

"Brian thank god I found you!"

"Deku listen they're not really trying to take over the island!"

"I've always known that, we have two missions right now! One is rescuing your friends; the other is taking down the lord! You go for the lord while I look for you friends!"

I don't know why he didn't tell me that part before this started. He was assuming that I already knew that.

I could see the lord at the end of the hall from where I was standing.

"You're fooling nobody with that stupid key Brian! If you cherish your life you shall not follow me any further!"

"The only thing you'll be cherishing is my ass by the time I beat it!"

"Now what's with the language? Don't you realize that you don't stand a chance against me!"  
I started running towards him.

"What did I tell you? Now you're going to pay!"

I heard Tara scream beside him as he headed off up onto the main deck.

"Tara don't panic I'll get you back!" I yelled.

I hadn't counted on him having a lot of guards in this area seeing that most of the fighting was outside the ship.

"Brian let us assist you!" a group of trees said coming up behind me.

"Fine, two of you stay here and make sure no one passes through and I mean NO ONE! The rest follow me onto the deck."

Now I was sprinting down the hall towards the stairs that went up. The trees were somewhat slower then I but they made good timing seeing that the lord was now on top of the ship with Tara.

He announced for the soldiers to stop fighting, "Now that we've come to the end of another battle here it looks as though the humans have failed yet again to save another life!"

"Hold it!" I yelled making my way behind the lord. "If you want to take someone's life take mine! She's not worth it!"

"Brian! Don't even say that!" she yelled back.

"Both of you shut up! Listen here little girl if you think I'm going to spare your life because of your precious boy toy then you have something else coming at you! It has always been a tradition to take the most beautiful girl on the island and sacrifice her to the gods above!"

Tara didn't bother saying another word; instead she winked at me like she had some sort of plan.

I stood there still holding my key sword.

"So what's it going to be Brian?"

I got the hint of what she was going to do and went along with it, "Gee what do you mean? I thought you were going to kill her."

"I will as soon as I have your permission!"

"Why do you need my permission it's not like she means anything to me?"

Tara looked at me but realized that I was pretending and continued to wait until the lord didn't notice her.

"What are you talking about? I know she means everything to you! Now either confess up or prepare to…"

"What die, that means nothing to me as well."

"Well what means something to you then!" he asked confusingly.

"I've been thinking about that and at the moment nothing comes to mind. You know this ship means something to me, but I know how you feel about it."

"Oh you do eh?" he asked curiously.

"Oh sure, I wouldn't mind having a piece of this for myself! Did you know that earth has bigger ships that make this look like a toy?"

"Prove it!"

"And if I don't?"

"Then you'll be begging for me to have mercy on your soul!"

"Fine then, your loss, can't say I didn't warn you."

"Warn me about what!" he yelled.

I gave the signal to Tara who jumped as hard as she could onto his big toe.

"Aw damn it you stupid girl!" He got back up and hit her knocking her out onto the deck.

He didn't see me charging him when he did this. I picked him up off the floor and threw him overboard taking me down as well.

"Brian doesn't!" Deku yelled, but it was too late.

As we both landed in the water his suit began to deteriorate in the water until the only thing that was showing was his face.

"I warned you! Now you can bet you won't be coming out of the water."

"Ha-ha, how are you going to even swim without legs!"

"You fool, don't you see that our technology is far advanced to yours! I don't need legs, I can float!"

"Brian!" Deku yelled. "Take him out before he floats out and releases the sharks!"

I laughed for a second and didn't realize he said shark before I made my move to grab the head. He saw me doing this and floated a bit higher.

"What are you going to do now…weakling! Face it, you're finished and so is this island!"

"That may be true but you're forgetting one important thing!"

"Oh and what would that be, your life!"

"No…this!"

I took one swipe with the key and struck it through the middle of his head splitting it open.

"Brian get under water, the head is going to explode. I've got Tara with me!" Deku said running towards the forest.

I took a big breath and dove underneath before the impact could push me down even farther. The head was out of control spinning around in circles giving off beams of light. Finally it stopped in one motion and exploded. I was only so far down before I felt the water pushing me farther down. My eyes were popping and I could feel them bleeding now. The blast knocked me out, and that's all I remember.


	30. Three is the Magic Number

June 26th, 2006

What are all these thought I'm having? Could it be that I've truly died? How do I know if I'm alive or not?

"Brian…"

"Brian…"

"Brian!"

"Whose there? Are you an angel?"

"Um yes Brian….now listen carefully. I have been sent here to tell you that you are neither dead nor alive. If you wish to come back alive you must do exactly as I tell you."

"Fuh…fine, what is it that you request of me?"

The angel took a step back and pointed towards my island in a cloud, "Your friends have all survived."

"Even Tara?" I asked drowsily.

"Yes she is fine; this is your mission Brian. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Does it involve attacking floating heads again?"

"No Brian it doesn't. Ok this is your objective. You have three days to make everything right from when you first landed on the island."

"What how am I supposed do to that?"

"Only you can figure that out Brian. If you wish to see your friends again you must make what is right from wrong.

"Will my friends know I'm alive? And will I be able to stay with Tara?"

The angel didn't seem thrilled by all my questions.

"This is my last statement, you have three days!" And soon he was gone and there was silence again.


	31. Batting Practice & Proposal

June 27th, 2006

My eyes slowly adjusted to the room and objects around me. Tara was sleeping on my stomach and Jason and Cree were lying against each other on the bed. I leaned my head up a ways to see what time of day it was…night. I leaned over without moving my stomach to see where Deku was. Since I couldn't see out the window I just put my head back down and closed my eyes hoping it was all a bad dream.

"Tara…Tara are you awake?" I was the first one to get up.

Again it felt like I slept only for a few hours.

"Eh, not now Brian, it's too early…Brian!"

I looked at her with loving eyes and stroked her hair slowly, "Yes I'm alright, how are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine, just a little bump on the back of my head. That's enough of you scaring me like that. I don't think my heart can take any more of this! Brian you were out for nearly thirteen straight hours. Deku brought you back but he left right afterwards. I just hope you're ok baby, you know how much I worry about you."

"Yes I know sweetie, where are Jason and Cree?"

She pointed to the bed, "For some reason they've been sleeping ever since you got back. I guess they didn't have anything else to do."

I sat back against the bed, "Well since they'll be out for a while still what would you like to do in the meantime?"

"I'm not sure; you gave me quite a scare there. I think I should rest for a while then wait to see how I'm doing later on."

I nodded back and lay against the bed thinking again. Pretty soon I forget about what I was thinking of since I had so many thoughts going through my head that I went outside and looked up at the sun. My eyes weren't used to the brightness so it took a while for them to adjust.

The first thing I noticed was that Deku was indeed alright. The second thing was that my clothes were still glowing from the key in which I tried to remember what happened to it after the fight. The ship was still parked in the water where it had landed.

"Deku took the key out of your hands when he rescued you from the water…he said it was too much for you to handle after that."

"I'm surprised I survived…the impact that the blast had on my body was extraordinary! Something though that's still bothering me was my dream that I had last night."

"Really what was it about?"

"Well there was an angel in front of me who announced that…I had three days to make the island back to normal…do you have any idea what they mean?"

"No…though I have find Deku right away if he knows anything about it!"

"That may be a good idea for once…I guess I've never given him enough credit for what he's done for us."

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Deku just getting up from the ground.

"Deku we need to talk now! I have something I must tell you right now!"

"Ok Brian what's the news of the day?"

"Enough with the sarcasm, I had a dream last night about an angel."

"Let me guess, you have three days to make the island back to normal."

"Well of course you're going to know that, you've been here hundreds of years!" I yelled.

"Ok calm down this is what you need to do…" he paused for a moment and looked around, and then he said in a quiet voice, "First you need to get that ship off this island by any means! When you're done with that you must clear all the bodies from the island."

"How will I do that?"

"Easy, just put them onto the ship. Then your final task will be to ask Tara the big question."

"You mean?"

"Yes that's right Brian; I've been keeping a sharp eye on you. This is one of the few times that I'll ever get to witness a proposal!"

"What if I'm not ready?"

"Don't worries you'll be quite a hero when you're off this place."

"That's what I'm afraid of…" I hung my head low.

"Brian…I know being a hero is hard for other people to accept but you must look at the bright side. It gives people a reason to believe in you. More so with Tara, I know you guys had your rough spots. It's all over now with that."

I nodded my head.

"Ok looks like you've got some cleaning up to do."

"Am I allowed to ask the others to help out?"

"Only if they agree to it, I know right away Tara will. Jason and Cree however may have different plans."

"Fine one last question, where are Scott and Beraht?"

"Don't worry about them; they are still recovering from the blast."

"Did that destroy the power that the lord had over them?"

"Yes it seemed as though he was controlling them since they came here."

I looked around the island briefly and thanked Deku for all his wisdom and advice.

"After I get off will I see you again?"

"Absolutely Brian, I'll be all around you. We trees share the same personalities and knowledge! Now go before it's too late!"

I waved back to him and headed back to the hut.

Tara was outside getting breakfast ready.

"Tara you'll have to hold up on the food and let Jason and Cree get their own. We have work that needs to be done!"

"Brian what are you talking about? I thought you said everything will be ok?"

"It will be; we just need to do a little cleaning around the island. You go get started while I ask Cree and Jason."

She didn't argue with me for the first time. Instead she got busy cleaning up as many bodies as she could carry.

I smiled and turned back into the hut, "Jason! Cree! Get up I need you guy's help!"

"Brian, why must you ask so late?" Jason asked.

"We have to work to do on the island. I'll explain it to you later!"

They didn't want to budge so I had no choice but to tip the bed over.

"Damn it Brian, ok this had better be worth it!" I laughed and ran back outside helping Tara along.

"So Brian are they coming?"

"Yes they are, I had to tip over the bed just to get a clear answer out of them!"

She laughed and continued getting the bodies into the ship. They weren't heavy or long. I was very fortunate to have the outer island cleared.

"Ok Brian what's next?" Jason asked tired.

"Next we head to the middle of the forest and check for anyone there!"

He nodded back and followed me in.

"Say Jason, is Lucia still alright?"

"Yes Brian she's in the hut in the crib. I think she really missed you as well."

"You think so? It looks like I have no choice but to take her in as my own. Well with Tara's help as well."

Tara and Cree split up with us to cover more ground.

"Jason can you keep a secret for now?"

"Sure what is it?"

"I'm planning on proposing to Tara."

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me in awe.

"Well Brian I must say congratulations. How do you think she'll talk to that?"

"I'm not sure…I hope she won't object to it."

"Why would she, you two are in love!"

I nodded and continued working.

By the time the four of us met back up all the bodies were taken care of.

"Ok what's next?" Tara asked.

"Now we need to get this hunk of metal off our island!"

I looked to Jason and gave him the heads up.

"Brian you're not going to use the bat…are you?"

"Hell yes Jason, now that I'm powered up nothing is too strong to hit!"

Tara and Cree laughed along.

"Jason do me a favor and get my bat out of the hut, I can't do this without the person in charge!"

He smiled and laughed. "Gosh Brian I guess being in charge is too much for me, maybe you should be the one who is instead."

I shrugged and replied, "Either way it's good. Here I'll get it."

Cree nudged Jason on the side.

I ran off to the hut quickly but before I got the bat I went in to see Lucia.

Her eyes matched mine in a way that looked nearly breath taking.

I said to her, "Well it looks like you're mine now, well Tara's s well. You don't need to worry at all…you can bet I won't let anything happen to you."

I grabbed my bat while holding her and ran back towards the group.

"Tara you hold her while Jason and I show you how we do things our style!"

"So Brian how do you expect me to throw you the ship?"

"Easily, just pick it up at the front because it has the lightest mass there."

He nodded and ran into the water.

"Like this Brian?" he asked.

"You're a natural Jason; now throw me that wicked fast ball you got!"

He laughed and threw me one high and outside.

"Thank you!" I shouted as I took one swing and saw the ship blast away in less then a microsecond.

"Holy shit Brian; how did you do that!" Tara and Cree yelled.

"Ha it was easy! After ten years of playing in the front yard I'm used to this kind of exercise!"

Tara pointed at the sky for Lucia telling her what had just happened. Lucia cooed and pointed her finger up there as well.

I yelled and ran about the sand looking up at the sky yelling, "It's our island in the sun and no one else's. It's our island and nobody cares!"

"Brian take it easy, we know what you have you to do now." Jason said motioning over to Tara.

"We? What are they talking about Brian?" She asked curiously.

"Don't move I'll be right back!" I shouted heading towards the hut. I spotted Deku just as I got inside.

"Deku, I'm all done! Well except the proposing part."

"I see you've done a good job out here Brian, here's the ring that she wants. Don't be nervous, you'll do fine!"

The rest of the group waited around for me while I got myself all ready. I knew that my clothes were fine but I needed to smell good. I splashed some cologne on me and headed back.

"Brian what's going on? How come you're running around all so suddenly?" Tara asked impatiently.

"Don't worry baby, you're going to love this!"

"Love what?"

"This!" I pulled the box out of my pocket and opened it up before her. "Tara…will you stay with me forever?"

She screamed and burst into tears. "Oh my god Brian I can't believe this…" She couldn't seem to control her emotions but she managed to say, "Yes I will!"

I screamed as well and picked her up and hugged her. I knew this is always what she wanted. When we got back we would be wealthy enough to start our own family.

Cree was also crying from her emotions getting the better of her, "Well now that you two are officially a couple now what are you going to do?"

I looked at her with a smile on my face, "Well I think she knows what to expect…"

"Is this true Tara, are you really going to do it?" Cree asked.

"Of course it is. I can't even tell you how happy this has made me.

I gave her another hug and asked everyone to come back to the hut.

"I wish we had some wine or something to celebrate with!" I sighed.

"Don't worry Brian; we can still have fun with some pineapple juice." Tara said smoothly.

"Oh you certainly know how to turn the tables Tara!" I replied.

When we got back Tara put Lucia back into her crib for her nap.

I put on some music from my iPod so everyone could get up and dance. Tara and I were the first ones to break the ice. We were bumping and grinding all afternoon. Even after we were exhausted we still were moving around.

By night fall Jason and Cree went inside closing the doors and windows.

"You think they did that on purpose?" Tara asked.

"Ah I'm sure they have their own things to be doing…like what we're doing!"

She laughed and put her arms around me. "Brian I'm proud of you for what you've done for not only me, but for Jason and Cree as well. You've done so much for me that I deserve to be with you…you know?"

"Of course I do, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"So should we get started now? Or wait a little bit longer?"

"I have an idea, let's do it somewhere else. How about down the ways from here, we were going to the other night."

She agreed and we got up and started walking down towards where the ship used to be.

"Brian do you really think everything will be ok?"

"Of course I do, I don't know what else could cause us as much problems as we've been through on here!"

I started walking slower in making it more interesting.

"So you want to go slowly I take it?" she asked.

"It'll make it more interesting that way!" I said.

We continued on until we finally got by the edge of the water.

"I like your taste in places Brian, and speaking of tastes…I brought some pineapple juice just in case you get thirsty…if you know what I mean."

"I think I have an idea." I said shaking my head.

"Let me help you then…just hold still for a moment." She instructed.

Though just as she was about to take my shirt off the jellyfish that I met a while ago made his way onto the shore.

"And what exactly are we doing here this time of night?" he asked.

"Ah bad timing man, you've missed out on an interesting week here. I'll explain it to you later."

"Great now I have to make my way back to the water, and it took me half a day just to get onto shore!"

I smiled and thanked him for his patience as he slowly but surely made his way back into the water.

"Now where were we?" I asked.

"Right about here baby." She said pulling my shirt off.

Soon we were both unclothed and on the beach kissing each other gently and caressing each other.

"Brian you are an excellent kisser, have I told you that before?"

"I'm sure you have, but you better tell me again before I forget!" I laughed softly.

We continued making love on the sand for a few hours with breaks every so often.

The energy that I felt coming to me through Tara's body was unreal. I knew I had found more than a lover, but a friend who would die by my side if it ever came to that.

"Brian do you think Jason and Cree are ok?" she asked right before we were done.

"Yes, and soon Scott and Beraht will be up to visit us one last time."

"One last time, what do you mean by that?" she asked confusingly.

"Well Deku suggested that they get going before something else gets a hold of them again. And I believe that was good enough for them. So when we get back we're having a little good bye party for them. Don't worry though we'll be seeing them again in the future."

She nodded slowly and looked at me seriously, "Brian how are we going to tell this to our families if we ever see them again?"

I hadn't counted on her asking that so I didn't reply right away.

"Brian please tells me you'll take care of this."

"I will, I don't think they'll be as concerned about that as just seeing us again. I think this is going to be a huge story when we get back."

"What if it isn't, what if people act like we weren't even gone?"

I stood up and put my clothes back on, "Whatever happens will have some sort of reason behind it. If people have noticed that we've been missing for a whole month the let it be, if not then we'll just have to continue on our way through life."

I could tell she was getting worried by what I said. "Let's head back now and get some sleep."

She agreed and followed me. We held each other's hands like it was our lives that we were holding now.

When we got back Jason and Cree were sitting around the fire with Scott and Beraht. Scott was the first one to approach me.

"Brian, I can't even begin to tell you what I'm thinking right now about you. I know that my emotions passed me when we last interacted with each other. I want you to know that we are indeed…friends again." I thanked him and looked down at Beraht.

"So I guess this is a new friendship?" I asked.

"I guess you could say that, it's not like I've forgotten all the fun times we had together. What we have here is more of a reincarnation rather than starting over. I'm just glad that you had to do what it took to get us back together as friends. Remember…Edgehaven for life!"

I nodded and sat down, "Well this may be our last night together. After this we won't remember a thing."

"Indeed Brian, let's just be glad that we're spending it together!"

"Well what should we do then?"

Jason was in deep thought when I said this and replied, "I say one last friendly game of soccer. While you and Tara were off doing your thing Cree and I were making teekee lamps for this kind of occasion."

I laughed and gave him a hug, "Sometimes I wonder how you can be so amazing all the time!"

"Well it wasn't much really, just a little hard work never hurt once in a while."

As we headed to the field I asked Scott who happened to be by my side, "What ever happened to those two girls that were with you before?"

"Oh Amanda and Brianna? They were rescued before us and taken safely back to the states."

"I knew I recognized Amanda, but I still can't put my finger on where I met her before."

Jason threw out the ball to us, "Let's get this party started before the sun comes up!"

I gave out a scream and got into gear to score some serious hard core goals. Since we were playing on sand I knew it'd be easy to try a bicycle kick rather than doing it somewhere hard.

"Jason pass it to me I'm open!"

He could tell I wanted to try the bicycle kick so he threw it up just over my head so I had enough time to line up and make a perfect strike. Unfortunately the ball missed by a few feet.

"Brian that would've been awesome had you made that!" Jason yelled.

I gave him credit for the pass and jogged around trying to get the ball from Beraht who practically glided across the sand playing like Roberto Carlos.

"Yea man you go Beraht!" I yelled.

He wasted no time in scoring the first goal on me.

"Remember who everyone is!" Scott commented. "Brian you're Christian Vieri, Beraht's Roberto Carlos, Jason you're Ronaldhino, and I'm Ronaldo!"

"Also Brian new rule, you can't stand in front of the goal like that!" Beraht declared.

"What, just because you guys can't score on me? I didn't think I was that good at goalie!"

"You aren't, you're just getting lucky!" Jason complained.

I laughed with him and threw the ball in off a free kick. "Jason go deep, I'm going to kick this one near the water!"

We played right next to the ocean so whoever kicked it in the water had to go fetch it.

"Brian if you kick it over the goal net I'll be amazed!" he said.

We put aside all our hard times we had together and had one night of no worries or fears.

"Hey Brian shouldn't you be concerned about your health?" Beraht asked.

"Yea really, don't forget about the baseball game." Scott added.

"We have no reason to worry, even ask Jason. A good friend of mine gave me some medicine that'll keep me from never having one again!" I bragged.

No one kept track of goals, only if you wanted to you could. Beraht seemed to be doing that in which by this time he shouted, "Number four, it's been done only so many times!"

Everyone laughed at him as he ran around the field with the front of his shirt covering his head. He nearly ran into a tree because he went a bit off course!

"Look out Beraht, the last thing we need is someone else getting hurt."

He laughed hard and went for the ball again. He was good at faking people out and spinning. As he was down at the other end with the ball I went up behind Tara and put my arms around her waist.

"Brian doesn't surprise me like that, how's Lucia doing?"

"She's good; I haven't seen a healthier child in all my life. Plus we have one more coming in with us" I said patting her stomach.

"Brian, please, not in public!" she said jokingly. "You'll embarrass me; do your friends Scott and Beraht know about this?"

"Nah, I'll let them figure that out on their own!"

The ball came back down to us and I had to let go for a bit so I could do my famous "Split through the defenders trick"

"Oh Scott you just got owned by Brian!" Jason yelled.

"Hey what can I say? He's a good ball handler." He said back.

The only person in front of me now was Cree.

"Cree, don't let him score." Scott said weak. "Don't let him fool you and try to take him out!"

"Why would I do that!" she asked trying to cover me at the same time. She actually did try to trip me on several occasions but I lucked out and jumped over each attempt.

"Ah Brian you're doing it again! It looks like you haven't lost a bit of your mystic powers at all!"

Tara looked at me in confusion.

"Brian you have powers?"

"Yea…I am the mystical striker you know!" I said jokingly.

She stuck her tongue out at me and continued trying to get the ball so she could score as well.

I raced ahead of her and called for it by the goal. "Tara over here I'm open. Pass it and make a run for other side of the goal!"

She did what I said and when I got it I flipped up in the air far enough over everyone else that she easily headed it in.

"Woohoo a goal for yours truly!" She yelled. "I'm the best in the game, even better than you Brian!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.


	32. Team Brazil Leaves & Overture

June 28th, 2006

By now the moon was going down slowly and the sun was rising up. We all decided to sit by the shore after the game and wait for the sun.

"Beautiful isn't it Brian?" Tara asked.

"Yes, but nothing more beautiful then you are!" I said proudly.

She smirked and hunched over onto me giving me little kisses back and forth. Everyone else either didn't notice or told us to get a room.

"Yes we all know this is a great time for you two, do it somewhere else!" everyone shouted.

I grinned back at them, "Let's just enjoy our final days together here."

Jason muttered, "How can we do that with you two making out?"

Cree laughed at that but no one else did.

"Here it comes!" I shouted.

The sun was in mid form now almost three fourths the way up.

"Brian we don't need your commentary to ruin the moment!" Scott yelled.

Instead I wrote in the sand with big letters, "Hooray for the sun!"

Everyone laughed at that knowing I was famous for doing that several years ago.

I ran behind Scott and yelled, "Everyone start the countdown! And…Three….Two…One! Hooray for the sun!"

He laughed a little and got up. "I think that should be good enough for the day."

"Yea you're right, let's head back and get some sleep."

As we headed back Scott caught up to me and told me that he and Beraht were leaving right now.

"How are you getting off here?" I asked.

"You'll see."

"Well can we come with you?"

"Now Brian you know that you're time will come to leave here." He said.

"I hope you're right."

He nodded and ran ahead to pack his bag.

"Beraht let's get going, our ship will be leaving soon!"

I watched them run to the hut to get their things.

"Brian, aren't you going to say goodbye to them?" Tara asked.

"I already have…in my mind."

I gave them one last wave and watched them fly off towards the sun.

Tara and I stood in the water talking about how exactly we'd be saved.

Brian and his friends continued to wait for their turn to come. Deku meanwhile was busy still getting them food and assisting to them however possible. Lucia continued to grow and at this point was able to walk at three years old. Our first child together, Sucia, was born on December 20th, 2006. Jason and Cree discussed getting married and finally had it done on March 25th, 2007.


	33. A new Beginning & The Truth

June 28th, 2009

"Honey it's time to get up, breakfast is ready." Tara announced.

"Do I have to get up? It's so early still."

"You'll get up right now and have breakfast even If I have to drag you out there myself!"

"Well what are you waiting for then?" I asked jokingly.

My back felt stiffer then ever right now. Slowly I made my way into Lucia's room.

"Sweetie what are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm making a crown with these flowers for you daddy!" she said.

"Well be careful and try not to make a mess…"

"Ok daddy!" she said perky.

I went into the bathroom which we recently added mirror to that we found somewhere on the island. I rubbed my neck seeing as though I haven't shaved it three years.

"Honey your food is getting cold, come eat it now!"

"What are you talking about? The temperature's like one hundred degrees!"

"Don't you give me that degrees crap? My temperatures raising each time you lollygag like this!"

I laughed softly to myself and walked outside. Deku was reading some paper he found by the mirror. "Is there anything new in the news today Deku?"

"Oh the same old stories Brian, here are one about a girl who drowned in a river. And this one shows how much poverty is having an effect on our country. That government of yours is really fucked up!"

"Deku not so loud, remember what I told you!"

"Okay, I'm sorry. I guess your mouth began to run on me a while ago."

I looked at Lucia inside who was still messing around with the crown.

"Be careful baby and don't make a mess!" I said.

"I know daddy you don't need to tell me again!"

I sighed and walked out to the water. "When will this be over? Will we end up off of here or not?"

That day was a day for people to lie around and do nothing. It's something we've been doing for a long time now.

"Tara, how's Sucia doing?" I asked.

"She's doing fine; she and Lucia seem to be getting along just like sisters should be."

I smiled and went back inside to my room.

That night I didn't sleep well…again. I just about drifted off when I heard voices outside. I looked over at Tara and smiled slightly then closed my eyes again.

"Is anyone here?"

I looked at Tara again but she didn't move.

Slowly I got out of bed and went outside. There was a helicopter with several people wandering around it.

"Hey over here!" I shouted.

One of them ran up to me, "Are you Brian?"

"Yes I am, but who are you?"

"We're from the U.S., we're here to take you back Brian. Quickly pack your bags and hop on."

I nodded and headed back inside the hut but I noticed something was missing….no one was there.

"Brian would you please hurry it up; we mustn't keep your family waiting any longer!" the captain said.

I looked around the room nothing looked familiar, only my bag in the corner.

As I headed out I took one last look inside and felt empty, like as if I was being taken back to reality.

"Brian step aboard and we'll be off."

The helicopter continued moving off the island. Though as I looked back I could've sworn that I saw Deku waving at me from where he originally came from.

"Brian it's taken us nearly five years to find you, how do you feel?"

I looked at them then back to the island.

"Brian?"

I couldn't help but shed a tear, "I feel like I'm being taken away from my true family."

The captain put his arm around me, "Son, all those people that you were there…they never existed."

I looked at him in disbelief, "How would you know? You weren't there for nearly four years!"

"Brian, I was once on a group that was on the island…I think I know what I'm talking about."

I didn't speak to anyone the rest of the way back. When we entered over the country I looked down and saw cities and country land, something I haven't seen for a while.

"You'll be pleased to know that your family is doing alright, they'll be waiting for you at the check in spot at the airport."

"Why can't you just fly me home?" I asked.

"We thought about doing that but your family offered to take you home instead so we couldn't argue with that."

I shook my head at him and put my face against the window. Looking down below I saw an alligator look up at me and wink. There happened to be a pair of binoculars right there so I quickly looked into them down at the alligator. Both of his eyes were the same. And sadly I thought about Axel.

"Brian we're almost here, are you ready?"

"No, though seeing I don't have a choice…yes."

He understood that I wasn't happy with coming off the island but he tried explaining that this was all an experiment. No one has ever been able to recall what happened when they got back. I never let go of that feeling.

When we got to the airport in Miami my family was there waiting, along with Tara.

My mom was so overcome with emotion that she ran across the room just to hold me.

"Mom its ok really, I'm alright…what is today?"

"Why, it's June 3rd. Brian, you don't know how happy we are to have you back with us! We've been thinking about you ever since you disappeared. Your friend here…Tara seemed to know what happened."

I walked over to her, "Is it really the Tara I know?"

She gave me a weird look, "Brian what are you talking about, we've been together for nearly four years."

I stepped back and lowered my head looking out the window of the airport.

"I guess you aren't, but either way…"

"Either way what?" she asked.

"Nothing, let's just go home."

As I walked out of the airport with my family I saw a baby with eyes just like Lucia's.

The baby looked at me and cooed. I knew she was there all along…

The End


End file.
